


Begin Again

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Category: Smallville
Genre: AU, F/M, Families of Choice, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Starting Over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:07:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24131053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: When Chloe decides to leave Metropolis to get away from the trauma of the recent past, Oliver offers her a place in Star City and the two grow closer than they ever imagined possible.
Relationships: Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan, past James "Jimmy" Olsen/Chloe Sullivan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

“...regret it,” an angry voice yelled as Oliver stepped out of the elevator at the building Jimmy had borrowed money from him to buy for Chloe as an anniversary present. Frowning, he quickly headed toward the sound of the shouting, pushing open the double doors in time to see Jimmy storming away from Chloe as Davis lay on the floor, a large bloody wound in his stomach. 

“Jimmy, wait!” Chloe called, starting after him then stopping when she saw Oliver and holding her breath as she stared up at him.

“What’s going on?” he asked, voice tense as he stared at Davis for a long moment, then shifted his gaze back to Chloe. 

She lowered her head but didn’t look toward Davis. “He came after us, I don’t know... I just pushed him away and, I guess he lost balance.”

Jimmy shook his head, moving closer to the door. “He came after _me_ because of what you said,” he accused. 

Chloe’s jaw was set as she turned to look at Jimmy again. “And I was trying to _protect_ you.”

“I meant what I said,” he told her harshly, slamming the door open and storming out without looking back. 

She watched him go, her posture tense as she took a deep breath then started back toward Davis’ body that was still impaled in the corner of the room.

Oliver watched Jimmy storm out, then hesitantly followed Chloe across the room. “Are you all right?” He noticed the blood stain on her shirt.

“Yeah,” she muttered, not looking at him as she focused on Davis, but didn’t touch him. “Looks like you were right about him.”

He reached out and took her elbow. “You need to change clothes. And burn what you’re wearing.” 

Chloe blinked a couple of times and turned to face him. “You don’t have to help me.” He had done more than enough already.

“You’re not exactly going to be able to carry the body out of here,” he pointed out.

Chloe sighed and looked down, nodding. “I know, but you’ve done enough.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he responded, taking a deep breath. “Take care of your clothes and I’ll take care of the rest.” 

She looked at him for a moment then nodded and headed upstairs to change, her head spinning.

* * * 

Oliver waited until it was dark before making his way back to the clock tower. His clothes were stained with Davis’s blood, but he’d managed to bury the man on the outskirts of Metropolis in a graveyard. When he slid the elevator grate upward, he paused as he realized the lights were on inside his apartment. Instantly he was on guard, and he moved quickly toward his secret room. Before he could even slide the bookcases out of place, he heard the sound. 

Vomiting. 

Blinking, he slowly headed down the hall, freezing in the bathroom door when he spotted Chloe emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. 

She didn’t hear him come in. Once she was done, she sat back on the floor against the wall and wiped her face with a wet towel.

“You okay?” His voice was quiet.

She tensed and looked up at him, holding her breath. “I didn’t hear you,” she muttered.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here.” He studied her, taking note of how pale she was. 

“I was looking for you,” she said quietly as she stood up slowly.

“Looks like you found me.” He cocked his head. “Maybe you should lie down.” 

Chloe shook her head. “Is it done?”

“I took care of it.” 

“Thank you,” she breathed, rubbing a hand over her face.

Oliver nodded. “You want some crackers or something?” he asked, chewing the inside of his cheek.

“I’ll be okay,” she lied, shaking her head. “I should go.”

He frowned. “Chloe, you’re sick. It’s a long drive back to Smallville. I have three guest rooms. Just crash here for the night, okay?” 

She hesitated. “I might take you up on that, but you saw how Jimmy was when he left, I need to find him, talk to him.”

“And you can do that tomorrow. He didn’t exactly seem like he was in the mood to talk.” 

“What if he does something?” she asked. “What if he goes to the police, Oliver?”

He cocked his head to the side. “You really think he’d do that?” 

“I don’t think so, but he threatened to.”

He blew out a breath. “All right. You stay here. I’m gonna shower and then I’ll go and talk to Jimmy.” 

“No,” Chloe said firmly. “I need to talk to him.’

“No offense, Chloe, but I think going after him right now is just going to piss him off even more.” 

“I’m hoping I can change his mind,” she said, looking up at him.

“And I understand that.” He rested his hands on her shoulders. “But it’s been a really long day. You’re already sick. Just give him a few hours to calm down.” 

She hesitated for a second. “Why are you helping me?”

He didn’t answer right away. Then he looked down. “Because you’re my friend.” 

“After everything, I don’t expect you to feel that way.” Clark certainly didn’t.

“Well, I do,” he said, glancing at her once more. “I don’t like or agree with some of your recent choices, but considering some of my own, I have no right to judge you.” 

Chloe stared up at him for a long moment then sighed. He had a point, considering everything that had happened with Lex. “Okay.”

“Pick a guest room. I’m gonna grab a shower,” Oliver said, sounding tired. “And if your stomach starts feeling any better, feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge.” 

“Thank you,” she said sincerely, still not sure about staying at his place, but she really didn’t feel like driving back and going back to the place where she had murdered Davis wasn’t an option. “For everything.”

“It’s not a problem,” he answered, letting his hands drop from her shoulders. He offered her a half smile and headed across the hallway toward the master bedroom.

Chloe watched him go then hesitated for a second before heading down the hallway to look for another bedroom. She doubted she was going to be able to sleep, but Oliver had done more than enough already. She could just go into a room and stay there until it was light out.

* * * 

It was a couple of days later when she finally made up her mind. She had spoken with Jimmy and had done everything she could to get through to him, but it had been impossible. After that, things just seemed to fall apart even more and she knew there was no reason for her to stay. 

Although it was past eleven at night, she didn’t plan on getting any sleep until she was done packing. She also wasn’t planning on seeing anyone before leaving, so when she heard the front door for the Talon, followed by footsteps heading upstairs and toward the apartment, she tensed and stepped out of the closet, toward the door. Chloe couldn’t help but hope it was Lois, the person she wanted to see the most right now. 

“Hey,” a familiar voice that was decidedly _not_ Lois called out, sounding hesitant.

Chloe held her breath when the door opened, paused and stared at him. “Oliver,” she said quietly. “What are you doing here?”

He paused in the doorway. “Sorry to just walk in. No one answered when I knocked and I was worried.” 

“I guess I didn’t hear you,” she said, shaking her head. “Come in.”

He stepped inside, his gaze falling on the suitcase in the hall. “Taking a trip?” 

She looked over at him for a moment then shook her head. “Moving.”

Oliver arched his eyebrows but remained silent.

“I can’t stay here anymore,” she said, turning toward her suitcase again.

“Is this because of the whole situation with Jimmy?” 

“Partially,” she told him, her jaw clenching. 

He watched her for a moment. “I hope I’m not part of the rest of the reason.” He looked away. 

She frowned, shaking her head. “Have you heard? About Clark and... Lois.”

Oliver frowned, too, lifting his gaze to meet hers once more. “No. What are you talking about? What about them?” 

“Lois left to do some correspondent work for the Planet. I don’t know how long she’ll be gone and... Clark is gone.” 

“Gone meaning what, exactly?” He stared at her.

“He said that Clark Kent doesn’t exist anymore,” she told Oliver, her expression blank. “He went to the fortress to complete his studies and he will be only Kal from now on.”

Oliver blinked a couple of times. “You mean he’s gone full-on alien?” 

“That’s what he said,” she said. 

He rubbed a hand over his face. “So he’s off to the arctic for the foreseeable future.” 

Chloe nodded, pulling clothes from her closet and dropping them on her bed. “And with him gone and everything that has been happening in Metropolis, I can’t risk staying here.”

“Risk staying here?” he echoed, curious about her word choice. “Did I miss something?” 

“Jimmy isn’t listening to me,” she said quickly, tensing. “And I can’t risk him coming after me.”

“You think he would?” He tensed, too. “Has he hurt you before?” There was a hint of dangerousness in his voice as he took a step toward her.

“No,” she said firmly. “But...” she shook her head, taking a deep breath. 

“But?” he prompted, frown deepening. 

Chloe sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at her lap. “I’m pregnant.”

At first he didn’t think he’d heard her right. Then when she avoided his gaze, he realized that he’d heard her correctly. “Oh.” He hesitated a moment, then moved to sit down beside her on the bed. 

With a deep sigh, she rubbed a hand over her face, her stomach turning. She hadn’t told anyone yet, only Jimmy and his reaction had been less than what she’d expected between him telling her to get rid of it unless she wanted to have the child in jail and him telling her she was going to have a serial killer’s baby.

“How are you feeling about that?” he asked uncertainly. He wasn’t sure whether this was supposed to be a congratulatory talk or a sympathetic one. Frankly he wasn’t good at either. 

“I have no idea what to do,” she admitted. “But I know I can’t stay here...”

“Where are you thinking of heading?” 

“I don’t know,” she breathed, standing up once again. She was usually a planner but between finding out she was pregnant, killing Davis, having Jimmy accuse her of everything he had and not having Lois or Clark around, she hadn’t been able to focus long enough to form a plan. So far her plan consisted of packing up her car and driving as far away from Metropolis as she could get.

Oliver watched her for a long moment, pursing his lips and then slowly rising to his feet, as well. “What about Star City?” 

She paused then turned to face him. She hadn’t considered California before, but then she hadn’t considered much. “What about it?”

He met her eyes. “What if you relocated to Star City?” He took a step toward her. 

Chloe stared at him then shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, Oliver. But I told you, you’ve done more than enough already.”

“And maybe what we both need it to just...start over. Somewhere else.” 

“You’re planning on going back?” she asked, surprised.

“There’s nothing in Metropolis for me.” 

Chloe agreed with the sentiment. With a long, deep breath, she considered him. “If I go to Star City, I don’t want you to think you have to do anything to help me.”

He gazed at her. “What if I _want_ to?” 

“We were barely talking, Oliver... I don’t want you to feel responsible for anything.” 

“I don’t feel responsible,” he told her honestly.

“Responsible for helping me. If I’m in your city,” she clarified. 

He was quiet for a second. “Are we friends?” he asked quietly.

Chloe hesitated. “I... didn’t expect you to ever talk to me again after everything I did.” 

He sighed softly and rubbed his hands over his face. “We’ve both made a lot of mistakes the last few months.” 

“We have,” she agreed. “But the difference is that I should have listened to you. You were right.”

“And I shouldn’t have killed Lex. I didn’t exactly listen when I should have either.” 

“I guess you didn’t,” she agreed even though she hadn’t been as proactive about stopping him as she should have been.

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance we can just try to get past that?” His voice grew even more quiet. 

“We can try but...” she hesitated. “Why are you helping me even more?”

“Because I want to,” he said again.

Chloe considered him then paced toward the closet. She was quiet for a moment longer then turned to face him again. “I’ll come to Star City but you don’t have to take care of me or anything, Oliver. I want that to be clear.”

“Crystal,” Oliver answered, holding her gaze. 

“Good,” she breathed, nodding. “I’ll finish packing soon.”

“So you’ll be ready by morning? Or do you need more time than that?” 

“I’ll be ready,” she assured him. “But I need to take my car, so you can fly if you want to and I can meet you in California.”

He studied her for a moment, tempted to protest, but then nodded. “I could take some stuff on the flight with me,” Oliver offered. “So you can get all of it.” 

Chloe looked up at him for a moment then nodded. “Okay, I can send some suitcases with you, if you don’t mind.”

“No problem,” he said sincerely.

“When are you planning on leaving?” she asked.

“By afternoon, at the latest,” he told her. 

“Okay,” she agreed, taking a deep breath. “Should take me a few days, but I’ll be there.”

Oliver nodded. “All right. Just let me know when you’re in the city and I’ll give you a tour.” 

“I’ll call you,” Chloe promised. Once she had settled somewhere, anyway. 

“Good.” He gazed at her for a moment and then offered her a small smile. “I’d say let’s toast to starting over, but...” He shrugged.

She paled slightly at the reminder and nodded. “Right.”

Oliver reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder, gazing at her intently. “You’re gonna be okay, Chloe.” His voice was quiet and confident.

“Thanks,” she told him. “For everything.”

“You’re welcome,” he answered, dipping his head and kissing her cheek without thinking about it. 

She stilled then looked up at him when he pulled away. “I’ll finish packing so you can take some things with you now. I rather not drive through Metropolis if I don’t have to.”

“No problem. I could help or...I don’t know. Sit around like a lump.” 

Chloe smiled just a little but headed to the suitcase on the bed and pulled the lid closed as well as she could. “If you can get that closed, I don’t think I can fit anything else in it.”

“I think I can handle that.” He moved over to the bed and started to zip up the suitcase.

“Thanks,” she told him yet again. She still wasn’t sure why he was doing everything he was, but she was glad not to be completely alone in this, even if she and Oliver weren’t exactly close.


	2. Chapter 2

Chloe sighed deeply when she checked the time on the computer and shook her head. Even as she grabbed her things, she pulled her phone to her ear and reached for her car keys, waiting impatiently for him to pick up.

A second later, she heard his voice. “Hey, Chloe.” 

“Hey, where are you?”she asked, her voice rushed.

“Just stepped out of a board meeting,” Oliver told her. “You saved me from a second nap.” His voice indicated he was joking. “What’s up?” 

Chloe groaned as she got into her car. “I’m just leaving work and I’m obviously late. I was hoping you’d be closer.”

“Well, I am,” he pointed out. His office was closer to Alice’s daycare than the newspaper’s. 

“But you’re in a meeting,” she pointed out. “If there is no traffic, I should be able to get there before she’s the only one left.”

“I’m also the boss,” he reminded her. “It’s honestly no problem. Don’t rush. I can get there in ten minutes.” It was a lot more realistic of a goal than there being no traffic at rush hour.

Chloe stopped at that. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Oliver said firmly, smiling. “I’ll pick her up and meet you at your place.” 

“Ollie, you don’t have to do that. By the time you pick her up, I can meet you at your office to take her home,” she told him. 

“It’s my night to cook anyway,” he pointed out, arching his eyebrows. 

“Fine,” she breathed, but smiled. “I’m gonna head to the store, then. Tell me what you need and I’ll pick it up and meet you at home.”

“Great.” He named off the groceries he’d need to make the dish he was planning to make that night. “See you in awhile then?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be home soon, hopefully before you. Thanks, Ollie.” 

“No problem. See you shortly.” He smiled as he hung up his phone and headed back into the boardroom. “Sorry, Everyone. Gotta cut this one short.” 

A man at the end of the table stood and glared at Oliver. “We are not done discussing.”  
“We are for the day.” His tone left no room for argument. “I’ll send an email about reconvening next week.” Without another word, he turned and left the room. 

* * * 

Oliver pulled his car alongside the curb and shut the engine off, grinning when he spotted the strawberry-blonde girl on the swingset with a couple of other kids, being supervised by a teacher. He climbed out of the driver’s seat, lifting his hand in a wave and heading toward the swings. He watched her face light up and his grin brightened more. The little girl had the uncanny ability of making him smile no matter what was going on. Kind of like her mother. He pushed that thought away and held his arms out as she slowed the swing to a stop and ran toward him. “Hey, Peanut!” 

“Ollie!” She grinned brightly, lifting her arms to him and jumping to be picked up the second she was close enough for him to catch her. 

He laughed softly, catching her easily and picking her up. “How was your day?” he asked, kissing her cheek. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded. “Okay, we colored and we had grapes.”

He glanced over at her teacher, Mrs. Burcham and smiled at her, then looked back at Alice. “Well that sounds like it was probably fun.” 

“Where’s mommy?” she asked. 

“She’s going to meet us at your house,” he explained. “She was going to get some groceries so I could cook us all dinner this evening.” 

“Cookies?” she asked hopefully.

And if that wasn’t a tiny version of Chloe asking the same question, he wasn’t sure what would be. He carried her toward his car. “After spaghetti and meatballs. Sound good?” 

“Yay!” She giggled, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

He hugged her back, reaching out and opening the car door. He slid into the backseat and gently placed her in the car seat strapped in there. He fastened the safety belts and kissed her forehead, offering her a smile before climbing out of the backseat and crawling into the driver’s side seat once more. 

“Bunny can come with me tomorrow,” she told him, bouncing on her seat as she raised her head to look up at him.

“He can?” He glanced at her in the rearview mirror, grinning at her bouncing.

“Yeah!” she grinned. “He needs a bow.”

“A bow?” he echoed, not sure what she meant.

“Here,” she said, holding a hand up to her hair above her ear. 

“Oh. Well, I’m sure we can find him a bow.” He started the engine.

“Red!” she added, reaching for her shoes and pulling them off.

He chuckled as she bared her feet. Something else she definitely got from her mother. “Guess this means I’m carrying you inside tonight, huh?” His voice was teasing.

Alice looked up and grinned at him. “It’s hot.”

Oliver just grinned back.

* * * 

Chloe had been putting the groceries away when she heard Alice’s babbling voice in the hallway. She shut the fridge door and headed toward the living room, smiling the second the two of them walked into the apartment. “Hey.”

“Hey. Look who I found,” Oliver joked, bouncing Alice in his arms lightly and making her giggle. 

“Hi, Mommy!” 

“Hi baby,” Chloe said, reaching for her and picking her up from Oliver. “Did you like the surprise?”

She beamed, nodding as she wrapped her arms around Chloe’s neck. “Cookies?” she asked.

Chloe laughed and shook her head. “No, Ollie picking you up, but I think he will make us cookies after dinner.”

“So presumptuous,” Oliver said with a smirk. 

“Am I wrong?” Chloe asked, grinning at him, knowing he couldn’t resist Alice’s requests. 

He glowered at her. “I’m gonna go get started in the kitchen.” 

Chloe laughed and Alice bounced. “Okay, we’re gonna go get washed up and we’ll be back when the food is ready,” Chloe teased.

“Very funny. I’m going to need two assistants for this, so let’s snap to it,” he teased back. 

“What do you think? Want to help Ollie make dinner?” Chloe asked Alice.

“Yes!” she said excitedly.

“Okay,” Chloe agreed, kissing her cheek then turning to Oliver. “You’re in luck.”

“Of course.” He smiled at the two of them. “I’m just a lucky guy.” 

“Cookies!” Alice celebrated.

Oliver chuckled. “After the spaghetti,” he promised.

“Okay, let’s get started on the sauce so we can eat and have cookies,” Chloe said, setting Alice on the floor before starting to pull pots from the cabinet.

He dumped some whole wheat pasta into one of the pots and set a pot full of water on the stove to boil. Then he turned to look at Alice. “Meatballs?” he asked. 

Alice made a face and shook her head. 

“I swear you’re turning my daughter into a vegetarian,” Chloe sighed.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He winked at Alice. 

Alice covered her mouth and giggled at Oliver. 

“Just wait until Lois hears about this...”

Grimacing, Oliver narrowed his eyes at Chloe. “You wouldn’t.” 

“Wouldn’t I?” Chloe dared, grinning. “It’s a huge change, imagine Christmas...”

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the counter, frowning deeply. 

“Or when we have a fourth of July barbecue,” she pointed out, smirking as she watched him.

“Now you’re just being mean.” He looked down at Alice. “Your mom’s mean, Peanut.” 

“Mommy, don’t be mean,” Alice said sternly at Chloe. 

“Hey, whose side are you on, kid?” 

Oliver grinned and arched an eyebrow. “The side of the person who’s making cookies for her.” 

Alice looked between them and pouted. “Hungry.” 

“Okay,” Chloe said, shaking her head as she smiled at her daughter. “Let’s get to work. I’ll call Lois later.”

 _Not if I hide your cell phone_ , he thought with a smirk as he turned his attention back to dinner. 

* * *

“She’s never having cookies this late at night again,” Chloe said as she started back into the kitchen after a very long time. “I thought she was never going to fall asleep.” 

He tried not to laugh, but didn’t succeed. “Well if you had just gotten the spaghetti sauce right the first time...” 

“Hey, it’s not _my_ job to cook,” she said, mock glaring at him. “You were too busy putting an entire bag of chocolate chips in the cookie dough.” 

“And you wouldn’t have eaten them any other way,” he responded with a knowing smirk.

“That’s beside the point,” Chloe said, picking up another cookie and pausing when she realized all the dishes were already done. “You wasted no time...”

He shrugged. “Well you were busy with Peanut.” 

“Still, you didn’t have to do that.” After all these years, even though she knew he was only going to shrug it off, she still felt bad when he cooked _and_ cleaned.

“It’s not a big deal,” he told her. 

She gave him a look then shook her head. “Let’s go into the office, I have some updates from the boys that you’ll want to read.”

“Don’t give me that look,” Oliver said, nudging her lightly with his elbow before heading back toward her office.

She nudged him back and smiled, taking a bite of the cookie before heading inside. “Are you patrolling tonight?”

“Yeah, for a couple hours at least. If you’re up for being my eyes in the sky. I know you had a long day.” 

“Of course,” she said sincerely, booting up the computer in the office. “It’s not like I’m going to be able to sleep anytime soon,” she teased, holding up the cookie she was still eating.

He flashed her a bright grin and plopped down next to her in the seat beside the desk. “Excellent.” 

“I won’t keep you too long since you still need to go get the uniform at the penthouse.” She paused. “Or did you leave it here?”

He looked at her sheepishly, shrugging. “It’s in the guest room closet.” 

Chloe smiled. “Then we have more time.”

“Show me what you’ve got.” 

Chloe pulled up a map on the screen and a few dots populated it a moment later. “Bart looked at the locations, two of them are labs like we suspected, but from what he could tell there was no research on metahumans, meteor infected or kryptonite. I will send you the files he stole by email, but right now we have no reason to believe Lex found out about any of the 33.1s or any of the research he had done before...”

Oliver couldn’t help but relax a little at that. “So what _was_ in the labs he found?” he asked curiously. 

“That’s when it gets more worrying. One of them has a whole area dedicated to stem cell research.”

He pursed his lips, considering for a long moment. “We’ll have to keep a really close eye on it.” 

“Exactly. The other lab seems to be more legit, with fertilizer research for LuthorCorp and it is close to Smallville, but I want to make sure there is nothing underground there considering that’s where the original 33.1, Level 3 used to be hidden,” she added.

Oliver grimaced, nodding in agreement. “Let’s have Bart plant some cameras just to be on the safe side.” 

“I’ll run a heat map scan for a couple of weeks to see if there’s any weird activity in both labs, on top of the cameras,” she agreed.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” 

“Great, I’ll get it set up while you’re on patrol. Let me check if the others sent anything,” she said as she pulled up her email.

Oliver watched her as she worked on her laptop and couldn’t help but smile a little. 

“Doesn’t look like there’s...” She paused when she realized the look he was giving her. “What?”

He shook his head, still smiling. “Nothing.” 

Chloe smirked and turned on her chair to look better at him. “No, what?”

“I just enjoy watching you work,” he told her. 

“Ah. I doubt it’s very entertaining,” she said, turning to her email once more.

His lips tugged upwards. “No?” 

“No,” she told him. “It’s just me, typing.”

“It’s more the look on your face when you’re working,” he answered. 

“And what does it look like?” she asked, glancing at him.

“Like you’re completely engrossed and determined. Utterly focused.” 

“Show me,” Chloe said, grinning as she looked over at him.

He sat up a little straighter in his chair and put his hands out like he was going to type on her laptop, wiping the smile from his face and narrowing his eyes as he stared intently at the screen. After a second, he stuck his tongue out just a little, resisting the urge to look and see her reaction. 

Chloe laughed and shook her head, poking his arm. “I do not look like that.”

He laughed, too. “Okay, not the tongue part.” 

“I don’t do this.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’d have wrinkles if I did.”

“And if you had wrinkles and wanted to get rid of them, I’d give you the money so you could.” He grinned.

“Are you trying to tell me you support plastic surgery?” she asked, looking at him once more.

“Only for those who are interested in it.” He shrugged. 

“I don’t know, I think you’re saying I should get one.”

“For what? You’re already perfect as is,” he protested. 

Chloe laughed again and shook her head. “You’re so easy, Ollie.”

He elbowed her gently in the arm. “And you’re mean.” 

“This is what you get for getting my daughter to side with you on that.” She elbowed him back.

He folded his arms across his chest, pouting. 

“Are you picking up blackmail tips from the three year old?” she teased, poking at his pouting lip.

“Whatever works,” he responded, ignoring the impulse to lick her finger. Because that would be extremely inappropriate and crossing lines. 

“Surely you have better techniques than pouting, Queen,” she teased, watching him for a moment longer before turning to the computer again.

“Oh, I do, but I’m not sure how effective they’d be on you.” 

“And why would they not be effective on me?” she asked as she closed her email. “Nothing here, by the way.”

“Excellent. And they wouldn’t work because you know me far too well for any of them to be effective.” He smiled a little. “Also not generally a great idea to wage blackmail against someone who has equally good or worse blackmail material against you.” 

“Good point, I think the competition between us would never end.” She relaxed against her chair and turned her body toward him.

He met her eyes, nodding. “Exactly. Frankly I’d rather we just stay on the same side.” He held his breath as his mind flashed back to a time when they _hadn’t_ been on the same side. 

She saw him tense and reached over, covering his hand with hers and giving it a squeeze. “We are at our best when we work together,” she agreed.

He turned his hand in hers and laced their fingers together, squeezing her hand in return. “Yes, we are,” he said quietly. 

Chloe smiled at him. “It’s still early for patrol, but do you wanna go now so you get back early or do you wanna go watch something and relax for a while?”

“Let’s watch a movie,” he suggested, rising to his feet and helping her up to hers, as well. 

She squeezed his hand once more before letting go. “Go find something. I’ll go check on Alice and grab a blanket.”

“Okay.” He gave her shoulder a light squeeze and made his way out of the office, trying to forget about days long gone. 

She got to the living room a moment later and found Oliver already on the couch. She unfolded the blanket and dropped it over him before sitting down too. “You okay?”

He smiled and unfolded the blanket, draping it over her, as well. “Yeah, I’m all right.” He draped his arm around her shoulders and picked up the remote to the DVD. 

“Thanks,” she said, leaning against his side and pulling her knees up and into a comfortable position. A few years ago, she’d never have imagined Ollie would become her best friend or that she’d be okay with curling up with him to watch a movie, but this was pretty much routine for them. Sometimes with Alice sitting in the middle, sometimes just them.

“Ready?” he asked. When she nodded, he hit play on the remote and glanced at her sideways. 

“Ready...” she said, then grinned when she saw the movie he had chosen. “Good cho--” she started then paused when she heard her phone ringing. Frowning, she glanced at Oliver. “Must be one of the boys,” she said as she stood up to pick up the phone.

“Worst timing ever,” he grumbled. 

“Arguable,” Chloe told him, smirking as she picked up the phone, frowning when she didn’t recognize the number, just the area code. “Hello?”

He shifted his gaze to her face, frowning at the confused look on her face. “Wrong number?” 

She looked at Oliver and shrugged a shoulder. “Hello? Can you hear me?” she said again into the phone, but the other side was silent.

His frown deepened as he watched her. 

Chloe tried for a couple more times but then the line went dead. “They hung up,” she told him. “The number was from Metropolis and I could hear a faint noise like cars on a busy street in the background but otherwise, it was silent.”

“And it wasn’t Lois’s number?” He sat forward on the sofa. 

“No. It’s a number I don’t have on my phone,” Chloe said, looking down at it again.

“Strange,” he murmured. 

“Yeah,” she agreed, walking back to the couch and resuming her position next to him, but focusing on her phone, her eyes narrowed much like Oliver’s earlier when he imitated her concentrated look. “Let me see if I can find where this number is from.”

“Yeah, of course.” He watched as she typed into a browser on her cell phone. 

“Looks like it’s a number registered to the Planet,” she told him. “Maybe Lois used this phone to call me and someone hit redial on accident.” Or maybe Clark had something to say to her but didn’t have the guts to, wouldn’t be the first time. But she knew better than to bring up Clark in front of Ollie.

“I guess that would make sense,” he said slowly. “But if Lois called you from that number, wouldn’t there be a record of the number in your phone already?” 

“Good point,” she agreed even though she was aware of the flaw in her logic. “I guess if it’s important, they will call again.” Because even if she returned the call, she knew Clark wouldn’t pick up.

Oliver nodded, watching her for a moment. “Want to get back to the movie?” 

“Yeah,” she agreed, sounding more distracted than she meant to as she set her phone down on the arm of the couch.

“Why don’t you call it back?” he suggested.

“I can, but if they didn’t say anything when I answered and I’m pretty sure they could hear me, I doubt they will pick up.”

“True.” He pursed his lips, thinking. 

“I’ll try,” she said, reaching for the phone and dialing before pressing the speaker button so he could hear it too.

The phone rang twice before a machine picked up. “Daily Planet General Delivery Mail Box. Leave a message after the beep.” 

Chloe hung up and shook her head. She knew it was too big a coincidence for her to get a wrong number call from the Planet, but she was pretty sure it was Clark now. And he was going to find a way to tell her what this was about whenever he got the courage to talk to her again even though it wasn’t Lois’ birthday or a holiday.


	3. Chapter 3

Oliver quietly entered Chloe’s apartment from the balcony later that night, not wanting to wake Alice or Chloe if she’d fallen asleep, as well. He set his quiver down and slipped off his shoes, then tiptoed farther into the living room. He headed down the hallway, taking a quick shower and then changing into a t-shirt and sweatpants in the guest room. He glanced at the bed for a minute, then headed to the living room once more. Yawning, he dropped down onto the couch and shut his eyes. 

But Oliver didn’t fall asleep right away. He was lost in thoughts of how strained things had been between him and Chloe when she’d first moved to Star City. How she kept him at a distance for months, and how frustrating it had been, even if he understood it. He had, after all, broken her trust and confidence in him. And he’d killed a man in cold blood. She’d been getting ready to have a baby and was undoubtedly hesitant about having a cold-blooded killer in her child’s life. He knew that he’d long ago re-proven his worth to her, that he’d earned her trust back even though it had been difficult. 

And it had been. 

_”So I was wondering if you might want to come over for dinner,” Oliver said as he spoke into the phone, leaning back in his desk chair at Queen Industries._

_“Oh, I do need to get everything you brought,” she said._

_“Yeah, so maybe I can give you a little tour of the city, too.” He chewed the inside of his cheek. They’d barely talked since she’d arrived; he’d been busy with QI business and she’d been busy trying to find a place to live._

_She was silent for a moment. “Maybe that could wait, I’ve been doing a lot of research on finding a place and I don’t want to delay that even more.”_

_“You mean dinner or the tour?” he asked uncertainly._

_“The tour,” she clarified. “Although if you just want to meet somewhere for dinner, that might be easier on you.”_

_“I was kinda hoping we could talk alone,” he told her, indicating that he didn’t want to meet in public._

_“...Okay. When should we meet?”_

_“Seven o’clock? Is that okay?” he asked._

_“Sure. Do you need me to bring anything?”_

_“No, just yourself,” Oliver assured her. “Is there anything you can’t eat or that doesn’t sound good?”_

_“Hm,” she hesitated. “Nothing that has really strong smells? Eggs, fish...”_

_“What about Italian? Like spaghetti or lasagna...?”_

_“I think those should be okay. But you don’t have to make anything.”_

_“Don’t worry. I’m a decent cook,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. “I promise I won’t give you food poisoning.”_

_“I’m not worried about it. I’ll see you at seven, then.”_

_He paused. “Do you know how to get here?”_

_“Isn’t it at the Queen towers?”_

_“It is. Top floor.”_

_“I think I can find it,” she breathed. “I’ll see you then.”_

_“See you soon.” He hung up the phone._

“Ollie?” Chloe whispered, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder.

He started, opening his eyes and blinking a few times before focusing on her face. “Hey.” He sat up slowly, rubbing a hand over his face. 

She smiled down at him. “Go lay down in bed.”

“What time is it?” he asked uncertainly as he rose to his feet. 

“A little after two,” she said gently. 

He nodded, yawning and giving her a sheepish smile in return. “Did I wake you?” 

“No, I waited until you were here, then went to shower and I needed some water,” she explained.

“I didn’t realize you were up when I came in,” he told her.

“It’s okay, but you should go sleep on the bed, Ollie. You’ll get better rest that way,” she said. 

“Okay.” He was too sleepy to argue. He wrapped his arms around her in a brief hug, then let her go and headed down the hall to the bedroom, yawning again.

She placed a hand on his back and rubbed it gently as she followed him down the hallway to the guest room. “Night, Ollie.”

“Night, Chloe.” 

Chloe watched him as he got into the room then made her way down the hall and into her own room. She liked having Ollie stay at the apartment, even though he had his own penthouse just a block away. He was a part of their family, and there was no reason for him to go home to an empty house when both she and Alice loved having him there with them.

* * * 

Oliver was the first one awake the next morning, as usual. He’d gotten up and fixed pancakes and scrambled eggs with bacon. He smiled across the table at Chloe and Alice as they ate their breakfast. “Want me to drop her off at daycare this morning?” he offered as he took a drink of juice. 

“I can do it, thank you,” she told him. “You probably need to go back to that meeting of yours.”

He made a face. “I told them I’d reschedule for next week.” 

“It’s okay, Ollie. I’ll drive her,” she assured him. 

“Ollie get me?” Alice asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

He arched his eyebrows, glancing at Chloe. 

“You want Ollie to pick you up?” Chloe asked Alice. 

Alice nodded. ”Mommy take, Ollie get.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Oliver told them, taking another bite of egg. 

“Okay,” Chloe agreed. “We can do that,” she said, keeping her eyes on Ollie. “Let me know if you can’t.”

He just winked at her. 

“If I get off work early, I can come home and go with you,” Chloe suggested. 

Alice’s face brightened. “And get ice cream!”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. “And get ice cream,” Oliver agreed. 

Chloe smiled as she watched Ollie talking to Alice. The two of them had definitely come a long way.

_Just a couple of minutes after seven, Chloe was in the elevator, after being buzzed in by Oliver. She was a little nervous about what he wanted to say to her. She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe it had something to do with Davis, or with Doomsday being back. With a deep breath, she stepped into the penthouse that seemed to be about three times the size of Clocktower at least and looked around. “Oliver?”_

_“Come on in,” he called from the kitchen. He emerged from the room a moment later, an apron around his waist. He offered her a small smile. “I just put the lasagna in to cook.” He moved closer to her. “Thanks for coming.”_

_“Sure.” She adjusted her purse over her shoulder and looked up at him. “This is a nice place.”_

_“Thanks.” He motioned her toward the couch. “Make yourself comfortable.”_

_“Thank you,” she said before taking the offered seat. “I can help you, if you need.”_

_“Nah, it just needs to cook now,” he assured her, taking off the apron. “How was your day?” He picked up his briefcase from the floor and moved to sit beside her on the sofa._

_“Okay, made some progress on the apartment. Yours?” she asked, tensing as she glanced at his briefcase._

_“Can’t complain,” he answered, opening it up and pausing. “So you found one, then?”_

_“A possible one. I will look at it tomorrow,” she said but kept her eyes on the briefcase._

_Oliver noticed her gaze and pulled out a file folder. “Well, this might be of some interest, too.” He held it out to her._

_Chloe frowned, reaching for the folder and glancing at him before opening it. “What is it?”_

_“The specs to an apartment about a block from here,” he explained. “Great neighborhood, reasonable rent, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, secure building complete with a round the clock security guard.”_

_Chloe looked at the papers for a long moment, then arched an eyebrow at him. “And the catch?”_

_“There isn’t one,” he said sincerely. “I like to think I’m a reasonable businessman.”_

_“You own the building.” It wasn’t a question. Oliver owned most of the city._

_He watched her reaction, nodding slightly. “I’m not offering you free rent,” he told her. “I know you wouldn’t accept that. But I am offering you the chance to take a look at it and make a decision before the ad runs in the paper. The previous tenants of that apartment just moved across the country.”_

_Chloe relaxed slightly when he said he wasn’t trying to offer her a free apartment, but she still wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable with living in a build owned by Oliver. On the other hand, she couldn’t focus on her own pride right now, she had to focus on what would be better and safer for the baby.”I can take a look at it.”_

_Oliver met her eyes, and knowing that was the best answer he was going to get from her at that point, nodded. “Where are the other ones you’re looking at?”_

_“All over town. Mostly central.”_

_“That’s good. Be sure and stay away from the edges of the city. They tend to be more crime-ridden. And the southern side, too.”_

_“I figured. That’s where they are the cheapest.” And while she would have considered it if it was just for her, security had to be a priority._

_“Yeah,” he said, voice growing quiet. The crime-ridden parts of the city was where he was going to have to focus his attention for the next few months. He’d neglected his own city for far too long, something that didn’t come without guilt._

_“Is this the reason why you wanted to see me?” she asked, closing the folder on her lap._

_“Yeah, part of it,” he told her._

_“Part of it,” she echoed._

_“I wanted to see how you were doing,” Oliver admitted._

_“Okay,” she answered quickly. “You?”_

_He watched her for a moment, then nodded. “I’m fine.”_

_“That’s good.” She looked down then at him again, but remained silent._

_He looked away, drawing in a breath. “Have you thought about where you’re going to apply for a job? Or did you want to focus on League stuff?”_

_“League stuff?” she asked, arching an eyebrow._

_“You do still want to be involved with the team, right?” he asked, sounding uncertain._

_“I don’t know if that’s the best idea, Oliver...”_

_“Oh.” He pursed his lips, nodding slightly._

_“After everything that happened, I don’t know if they’d be comfortable with working with me.”_

_Frankly he wasn’t sure they’d still be comfortable working with _him_ at this point, either, but he didn’t say so. “Maybe you should let them decide that,” he suggested quietly. “I’m not going to push, because it’s your decision.” _

_“I’ll consider it if they are open to it. But I am looking for a job at the local papers.” She didn’t expect them to want her back on the team at all, and she didn’t know if she should be on the team with a baby. On top of that, she didn’t know if she planned on being around much longer. If she couldn’t find a job there, she’d have to move somewhere else._

_“Oh. Well, that’s good. I mean, you’d be doing something you loved.” He chewed the inside of his cheek._

_“I guess I’ll see if I can get back in,” she said, shaking her head. “How are you adjusting back?”_

_Oliver shrugged. “The board isn’t thrilled, I don’t think, but other than that...”_

_“Lucky for you, they don’t get a say.” She was trying hard to make conversation, but now that she knew what he wanted to talk to her about and that the pressing subjects were done, she wanted nothing more than to leave._

_“Yeah,” he said, shrugging again. “Things at the company have been less than stellar lately, but I’m gonna get things turned around.” He rose to his feet._

_“What are you planning?” she asked._

_“To show up,” he admitted wryly._

_“You weren’t included in the meetings when you were in Metropolis?” she asked._

_“I was invited. I just rarely made it to them,” he explained, heading for the kitchen. “Do you want some salad before we eat lasagna?”_

_“I’m okay, thank you.” She kept her eyes on him. “So you’re more interested in the company now?”_

_He paused. “I guess you could say I just haven’t been very focused on the business for awhile now.”_

_“You have been doing a lot.” Mostly chasing after her and Davis._

_“Other matters were more pressing at the time,” he said with a shrug._

_“Hopefully there won’t be any of those for a while.”_

_“Agreed,” Oliver said quietly, meeting her eyes._

_Chloe stared at him for a moment then stood up, leaving her purse on the couch and heading to look out the window. “Have you been talking to the others?”_

_He grimaced at her question, raking a hand through his hair. “Not since...” His voice trailed off._

_“Right,” she breathed. It made sense, considering everything that had happened because of her._

_“I’m not sure how eager they will be to talk to me again.”_

_“I don’t know that they aren’t eager to talk to me, but why you?” she asked, turning to face him._

_He pursed his lips. “Because now they know what I did.”_

_“So when you asked if I wanted to help with the league, did you mean just you?”_

_Oliver looked down. “It doesn’t matter. There’s still no pressure either way. The choice is yours.”_

_“No, but what did you mean exactly?”_

_“I meant me for now. And eventually, I’m hoping that the others will come around.” He shrugged. “But it’s not a big deal, really.” He’d done it alone for a long time before he’d met the others at all. He could do it again if he had to._

_“Right,” she said again, taking a deep breath. “If you ever need help with something, I won’t say no to you. But I have a lot to consider now.”_

_“I know. And I don’t want you to think that I suggested you move here just so I could take advantage of your skills or your situation,” he said honestly._

_“I don’t think that. And I don’t want you to think I did move here so you could help me.”_

_“I don’t think that either.” Oliver gazed at her._

_“Good.” She met his gaze then took a deep breath and turned to the window again. She didn’t know why exactly she had accepted moving to Star City, but even if she didn’t want his help, it was reassuring not to be completely alone._

* * * 

Chloe was finishing up an article when her cell phone started to ring. She recognized the number a moment later, the same number that had called her from the Planet the previous night. “Clark,” she muttered under her breath, sighing deeply and leaned against her chair before picking up. “Hello?”

There was a moment of silence. And then, a familiar voice demanded, “I want to see my daughter.”


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe opened the door to Ollie’s office after a quick smile at his assistant, her heart still pounding against her chest, her eyes wide and her face pale. 

He glanced up from where he sat at his desk, talking on his phone. At the sight of her pale face, he sat up straight. “I’ll have to call you back,” he told the man. “What happened?” he asked after hanging up. He rose to his feet. 

“I thought it was Clark calling from the Planet but...” she shook her head, her mouth dry as she ran a hand over her face.

“But what?” he prompted, moving closer to her and laying his hands on her shoulders, frowning. 

“It was Jimmy, Ollie. He wants to see her.” Even as she spoke the words, her stomach turned. 

He held his breath, searching her eyes. “Is that all he said?” He struggled to keep his voice calm.

“No, I don’t remember everything.” She had barely been able to listen to what Jimmy was saying, she got so nervous after his threat. “He said it’s his right, that he knows what I am and that he will use it if he needs to.”

“Knows what you are?” Oliver echoed, shaking his head. 

Chloe hesitated. “I don’t know, I think he meant about Davis.”

He narrowed his eyes, his jaw clenching. He moved away from her and to the door, shutting it and flipping the lock. “You really think he’d use that against you?” 

“I don’t know. I was at work, I didn’t talk to him much. I told him to call me later, but I said he didn’t even want me to keep her when I told him that he had no rights over her.” 

And if the world was a fair place, that should have been enough to deter Jimmy from ever bothering her again. But somehow he had a feeling it wouldn’t be. “We’ll figure this out,” he promised.

“I know. I think I’ll just hack into his computer and see what he’s been researching. So we have a better idea,” she told Oliver in a quiet voice.

“Good idea. And I’ll get my lawyer on standby just in case,” he told her.

“Thank you. At least it’s Friday and she will be home with us through the weekend.” Not that she thought Jimmy would try and kidnap her, but she couldn’t help but feel paranoid.

Oliver nodded, moving toward his desk and picking up his telephone. “You can use my computer if you want.” 

“Thanks,” she said, looking up at him for a moment then walking around his desk and sitting down on his chair.

He nodded, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze even as he dialed a number and began speaking quietly with his attorney, explaining the situation. 

She started her research, but considering they were on the Queen Industries network, she didn’t want to go too far on it while there. Not that she could, anyway. Her head was still spinning from her brief conversation with Jimmy. She waited until Oliver was off the phone to look up again. “I just don’t understand why he’s doing this now, after all this time.”

“I don’t either. But I have a feeling we’re going to find out,” he said grimly.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded, turning her attention back to the screen. Hopefully they would figure it out before Jimmy was ready for whatever he was planning.

* * * 

It was two days later when Oliver got the call. He was seated in his office, focused on a business email when the phone startled him out of his thoughts. He picked it up, rubbing a hand over his face. “Queen,” he said.

“Mr. Queen, do you know Alice Gabrielle Sullivan?” a woman asked.

Immediately he was on alert. “Yes, she’s my goddaughter. Who is this?” 

“This is from the Department of Children and Family Services, I need you to come to our office as soon as possible.”

“What’s going on?” He rose to his feet, already saving his work and shutting down his computer. 

“Alice’s mother was arrested. If you cannot come to take the child into temporary custody, she will be placed in foster care.”

He blinked a few times, shock racing through him. Chloe had been arrested? What the hell? Shaking his head, he forced himself to take a deep breath to keep calm. “I’m on my way. Which location are you?” 

* * * 

Chloe had no idea how much time had passed by the time she was allowed to let go. She was exhausted, terrified of what might have happened with Alice, angry at Jimmy, but above all she was eager to get out of there and see her daughter again.

“And if you don’t let me see her _right now_ , I promise you that this will be the last day you work in a police department in this country!” a familiar voice said angrily. 

“Oliver,” Chloe called, her stomach clenching. He was the one person she’d been hoping would be with her daughter. “Where is Alice?”

He turned at the sound of her voice, glaring once more at the officer he’d been arguing with for the last half hour. Moving to her side, he wrapped his arms around her. “Bart’s watching her. She’s okay.” 

“Thank God,” she said, instantly wrapping her arms around him.

Oliver hugged her close, shutting his eyes for a moment. “You’re good to go?” he asked, pulling away to look at her once more. 

“Yes,” she told him quickly. “I want to see her.”

“Okay. We’ll talk on the way.” He took her hand and led her toward the door, shooting glares at all the officers in sight. 

Chloe nodded, holding on to his hand as they made their way outside, relieved to see that even though Oliver had been at the police station, no press had been called. She didn’t need another circus, she just wanted her daughter. 

Within moments they were both in his car and he was driving them toward her apartment building. “They wouldn’t tell me anything. What the hell happened?” he asked, confused. 

“I was getting home with Alice when they came up to me, said I was being brought in for questioning. I asked to call you, so you could take her, but they wouldn’t let me. She was terrified, Oliver. She was crying and holding on to me the whole drive.”

“Questioning for what?” he asked, glancing at her sideways before focusing on the road once more. 

“My involvement with Davis Bloome, my supposed aiding in the murders in Metropolis,” she said through clenched teeth.

His jaw clenched, too. “Jimmy.” 

“Apparently he has gotten worse.”

Oliver gripped the steering wheel more tightly, knuckles turning white. And things were going to get a lot worse for Jimmy if he had any say in it. 

* * *

While Chloe was a lot more relieved now that she knew Alice was safe and asleep in Oliver’s guest room, she was more than a little nervous about calling Jimmy. She made sure the call could not be traced or recorded since she didn’t want to add to the trouble her ex-husband was already trying to get her into, but she had to figure out _what_ he was thinking or why the hell he was interested in _her_ daughter now. 

The call was connected through her laptop and she had Jimmy on speaker, but as the phone rang once, twice, three times, she wasn’t sure he was actually going to pick up.

But a moment later he did. “James Olsen.” 

She took a deep breath when she heard his voice, anger burning through her instantly. “What the hell are you trying to do, Jimmy?”

There was a moment of silence, and then an equally angry response. “Doing what I have to do to see my daughter.” 

“So you think taking the _one_ parent she always had in her life, the one parent she trusts and needs is the way to do it?” she demanded. 

“I knew you wouldn’t let me see her if I asked. I’m doing what I have to do.” 

“If it had been up to you, she wouldn’t have been born to begin with. You told me to get rid of her and stay out of your life when I told you I was pregnant,” she said through clenched teeth. “You have _no_ right to see her or be included in her life and you’re obviously not fit to be a parent if you want to destroy all sense of security she has now.”

“I’m going to see her, Chloe. One way or another. You don’t have to like it. But I _am_ her father and I _do_ have rights. You might want to keep that in mind.” 

“Contributing with some DNA doesn’t make you a father. She is three years old, Jimmy, and you never took an interest in her before, why now?”

“My reasons are my own. That’s all you need to know.” 

“No. It isn’t. Alice is _my_ daughter and let me tell you right away that while I would have considered letting you meet her before, now you’re not getting within ten miles of her.” Her voice was tight as she spoke.

“I wouldn’t bet on that, Chloe,” Jimmy responded evenly. “You might have Green Arrow on your side, but I have Superman.” He hung up the phone.

Chloe groaned in frustration and shook her head. Short of Clark flying into their home and taking Alice away, she knew there was nothing he could do to legally take Alice from her. Not when she had all of Oliver’s money and lawyers to help her and when she knew Jimmy had no actual evidence that he could use against her in court. 

She rubbed her hands over her face and walked out of the room. While she wanted to kick something hard and scream, she willed herself to calm down and be quiet not to wake Alice up. The poor kid had been so terrified, asking if the men were going to take her away again, it had been hard to get her to fall asleep in the first place.

“Hey.” Oliver nearly ran into her in the hallway when she stepped out of the study. He reached out, resting his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

Chloe stilled and looked up at him, focusing on him. “He’s not worth talking to.” She kept her voice down, but it was tight with tension.

He studied her for a moment, then guided her into his bedroom and shut the door behind them. “What did he say?” 

She summarized the conversation as well as she could, pacing as she told Oliver what Jimmy said without really answering any of her questions. “Then he said that I might have Green Arrow helping me, but he has Superman.”

He tensed at that. “Do we need to use some warding techniques to keep Superman away?” he asked.

“I think we should, on windows and doors just to be safe,” she said. “But I think talking to Lois might be more efficient.” 

“Agreed. But it never hurts to have a fail safe.” Oliver pursed his lips. 

“And I’m not taking any risks,” Chloe agreed. She couldn’t imagine Clark doing anything to hurt her daughter, especially not when he was engaged to Lois and her cousin loved Alice like she was her own. But she didn’t know what kind of lies Jimmy had been telling Clark all this time and she knew exactly how impressionable her former best friend could be. 

Neither was he. Giving her shoulder a squeeze, he nodded. 

“I think it’s better for us to stay here until this is over.” She knew Oliver wouldn’t mind, but it would be a change in his daily routine. Well, his daily routine when he wasn’t at their place, anyway.

“I agree. Why don’t you make a list of things that you two will need and we can have Bart go get them?” he suggested.

“I will.” She rubbed a hand over her face tiredly. It had been about thirty six hours since she last slept. “I will also call the daycare tomorrow morning to say she won’t be going.”

He watched her for a moment. “Why don’t you lie down and get some rest, and I’ll get some little green rocks set up just in case. We can take care of the rest later.” 

“You didn’t get any rest either,” she said knowingly. “Do you have rocks in here?”

“I’ll rest as soon as I get them out. And yes. I do.” He nodded.

“Let me help you, it will be faster,” she said, starting toward the living room and the secret room Oliver had there.

He shook his head at her stubbornness and followed her out of the bedroom. “If worse comes to worse we could always take a trip.” 

“A trip?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder before pressing the code on the pad.

Oliver shrugged. “Europe’s great this time of year.” He winked at her. 

“No,” she said, taking a deep breath as she walked inside the secret room that was more like a deep closet. “I don’t want to look like I’m hiding.”

He wasn’t surprised by her answer, but he sighed softly, looking down and then following her into the room. “Top shelf on the left. Lead-lined boxes.” 

Chloe looked for a second before finding the boxes and pulling a couple. “Mostly focus on the guest room she’s in, balconies and front door. If we need more of these, I have some at home.”

He pulled another box down, this one a smaller one. He opened it, revealing the green Kryptonite ring he’d taken from Lex years before. “Here.” His voice was quiet as he held it out to her. 

She hesitated then took the ring, well aware of where it had come from. Nodding, she pulled the necklace she had on off and slipped the chain inside the ring before closing the clasp once again. “I’ll have her wear it.”

“I’ll have another one made,” he said, not meeting her eyes. 

“What for?” she asked. 

“One that didn’t belong to Lex,” he answered.

“That isn’t really something I’m worried about right now, Ollie.”

He pursed his lips, nodding as he fell silent, the way he always did when it came to the mention of Lex Luthor. 

“You can’t think about that right now,” Chloe said, reaching for his hand and squeezing it.

He looked down at their hands, nodding slightly and squeezing her fingers lightly in return. “You’re right. We’ve got more important things going on right now.” 

“And you have blamed yourself for this long enough.”

He managed to give her a small, faint smile while he shrugged. “Come on. Let’s get these set out,” he said, holding up one of the boxes of Kryptonite. 

She took another box and nodded, staring out of the closet. “I’ll sleep with her,” she whispered as they started down the hallway. 

He reached out, resting his hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. 

“You okay?” she asked quietly.

“I’m fine,” he assured her. 

“Thanks for everything you did,” she said quietly, watching him. 

Oliver glanced at her as he followed her into the room where Alice was sleeping. “No thanks needed. I’m glad to help out.” 

Her face softened and she nodded. “I know,” she whispered before stepping closer to the bed and placing the necklace under her daughter’s pillow carefully not to wake her.

He looked down at the sleeping girl and drew in a breath before giving Chloe’s arm one more gentle squeeze and heading out of the room to give her a moment alone with her daughter. 

* * * 

To give Alice some sense of normalcy, they decided that it would be better to send her to school, but not before Chloe made sure she had the necklace on and had hidden some  
kryptonite in her backpack. It was around one in the afternoon when Chloe’s phone started to ring. The second she heard it was from the school, she headed into Oliver’s home office. “What do you mean there’s someone trying to pick Alice up? What was the name they gave?”

Oliver looked up from where he sat at his desk, frowning deeply. 

“He didn’t give a name, Ms. Sullivan,” the secretary told her. “He stated that he was her father.” 

“I’m on my way,” Chloe said, her jaw tight. “Don’t let him anywhere near her, call the police if necessary and whatever you do, don’t tell him you told me. I will be there in less than ten minutes.”

“Yes, of course,” the other woman agreed before hanging up. 

Oliver rose to his feet, no question in his mind who was at the school. “Jimmy,” he said flatly. 

“I’m going to kill him,” she said tightly, rushing out of the room and grabbing her shoes in the bedroom she and Alice were occupying in his penthouse then heading for the elevator. 

“And I’m gonna hide his body,” he said grimly, following her. 

“Can you drive?” Chloe asked, her jaw clenched even as she stepped into the elevator.

“Absolutely,” he told her, resting his hand at the small of her back. 

“I don’t understand why he would do this now. It’s been almost four years, Oliver. He never even called and he has known all along since he was around Clark and Lois. Lois has a picture of her on her desk!” She wished she could get to the school sooner, and she wished she’d have some of those answers but she knew Jimmy too well to get her hopes up. 

“Because he’s a monumental douchebag,” he muttered, pressing the down button on the elevator. 

“No arguments there,” she sighed, shaking her head. 

“We’re going to take care of this,” he said quietly, turning to face her. 

“I know,” she whispered. “I would probably be a lot more worried if you weren’t with me.”

He gave her a small smile, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around her. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that.” 

She wrapped her arms around him tightly and took a deep breath. “I know,” she whispered, holding him close. She and Alice might not even be there if it hadn’t been for him.


	5. Chapter 5

_Oliver could already feel the sweat dripping down his forehead as he climbed the last set of stairs that led to Chloe’s apartment. It wasn’t like he had a choice to take the elevator, which he might have done had the power not been out city-wide, even though he usually did take the stairs. But it was a sweltering one hundred and five degrees outside, and he was praying the electricity would come back on soon. People tended to get a little crazed when it was hot, let alone when it was hot and there was no functioning A/C in the entire city._

_Wiping the back of his neck as he approached her door, he exhaled slowly. He knew she wouldn’t be anymore thrilled to see him than she usually was, but it was approaching nightfall and he wanted to check on her before he went out on the streets to help keep the peace. She was pregnant, after all, and due any day now. Not to mention he was the one who’d talked her into moving to Star City in the first place._

_He reached out and knocked on her door._

_She heard the knock, but when she tried to get up, a sharp pain shot through her and she fell back on the couch, moaning._

_When he didn’t hear a response, he knocked again, a little louder this time. “Chloe? Hey, it’s me,” he called, glancing around the dark hallway._

_She was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath. “Come in,” she called as loudly as she could._

_He frowned at that, reaching out and turning the handle, making his way inside. “Chloe, you really should keep the door locked. Even when there’s not a huge blackout going on,” he told her, squinting to see her in the darkness._

_“I was going to leave,” she breathed, pushing herself to sit up._

_His frown deepened. “You okay? You sound kinda...”_

_Chloe stared up at him, a hand pressing on the side of her stomach as she shook her head._

_His gaze dropped to her stomach and the way she was holding onto it and he sucked in a breath. “Are you...is it time?”_

_“I don’t know. I think...” she paused. “I think it might be.”_

_He almost asked how she could not know, but wisely, he kept that question to himself. “Okay, then, I need to get you to the hospital.” He moved over to where she was sitting on the sofa._

_“I can’t move,” she breathed, shaking her head. “I tried.”_

_“I can help,” he told her. “Or I can carry you.”_

_She started to say something and then the same burning pain that she felt like was ripping every single muscle she had in half hit her again. She bent forward and closed her eyes, pressing a hand firmly to her stomach and grinding her teeth._

_Oliver hesitated, not sure what to do. “Okay, I’ll call an ambulance.” He pulled out his cell phone._

_Chloe took a deep breath once the contraction was over and leaned against the couch again. “It’s too quick,” she muttered, her eyes warm with tears and she wasn’t sure if they were from pain, panic or both._

_“What do you mean?” he asked uncertainly._

_“Contractions are too fast.” She shifted again, trying to sit up and groaning as she pushed herself._

_His eyes widened. “Well, the faster I call the ambulance the faster you can be at the hospital having this baby.”_

_She didn’t think there was going to be enough time, not when the whole city was apparently in the dark. “Hurry.”_

_Oliver placed the call, forcing himself to take a deep breath as he hung up. “Okay.”_

_Chloe closed her eyes for a long moment then shifted, placing her feet on the ground as she tried to figure out how she was going to get up and if she managed, how long she was going to be able to stand._

_“Maybe you should stay still,” he suggested, moving closer to the sofa once more._

_“There isn’t enough time.” Just as she said that, another contraction, a stronger one hit her. Chloe bent forward, her entire body shaking as she groaned in pain and then stilled when she felt a change in the pressure in her stomach, then felt the liquid running down her legs._

_“Chloe?” The alarm on her face was evident even in the semi-dark._

_“The water broke,” she said, her voice raw with fear, her heart beating fast and she suddenly felt like she couldn’t breath._

_Shit. Shit shit shit. He moved so he was standing beside her. “Okay, take deep breaths,” he said, sounding like he knew what he was talking about, even though he’d obviously never been in a situation like this before._

_Chloe took deep breaths even though she could barely make sense of his words. “She can’t be there long,” she muttered, if she had been afraid before, she was terrified now. But not so much about giving birth anymore. Now she was afraid for her daughter’s life._

_“She?” he echoed, reaching out and laying a hand on her shoulder._

_She barely had time to nod before pain ripped through her again and she groaned loudly in pain. “Call 911,” Chloe said when she managed to catch her breath. “I don’t know what to do.”_

_“I already called,” he reminded her gently. “Take deep breaths. I’ll be right back.” He headed away from her and down the hall._

_“Call again,” she said, her eyes widening when he walked away. “Don’t leave,” she whispered, looking down at her stomach and rubbing it, willing the baby to wait a while longer._

_“I’m not sure that calling again will do any good,” he admitted as he returned a moment later, carrying some towels and a cool washcloth._

_Chloe looked up at him, swallowing hard. “I can’t do this.” Even though she wasn’t having a contraction, her muscles were still clenched._

_He almost smiled. Almost. He moved to sit beside her, reaching up and pressing the washcloth to her forehead. “Yes, you can,” he said quietly._

_She closed her eyes, shaking her head. The small part of her that was still managing to find some logic knew that she couldn’t stop it. But most of her was terrified of something going wrong with either of them. And Oliver had no training of any kind if it did. “Find a doctor,” she pleaded, her eyes wide when she opened them again and stared up at him._

_“Chloe.” His voice was serious. “Women have been doing this for eternity.” He paused. “The ambulance’s ETA is over an hour long. There’s a lot of chaos outside right now.”_

_Her face crumbled but she nodded, taking another deep breath. Her head was spinning as she tried to make sense of what was happening, but as another wave of pain broke through her, her brain seemed to go completely blank._

_He reached out and took her hand. “Squeeze my hand,” he told her._

_She squeezed it with all of her strength, barely noticing she was doing it as she bent forward, pushing involuntarily._

_He grimaced just a little. “Okay, don’t push yet. We uh--we need to get your pants off.”_

_“I can’t control it,” she told him weakly._

_“Right.” He nodded, pulling away when she let go of his hands. “It’s gonna be okay.” He hesitated as he rested his hands at her waist. “Lay back.”_

_Chloe stared at him for a full moment before laying back on the couch, barely comprehending the fact that Oliver of all people was actually there, and apparently he would be the one helping her through the birth of her daughter._

_* * *_

_A few hours later found Oliver making his way down the hallway and toward the room he’d been told was Chloe’s. He knocked tentatively on the door, doing so quietly so not to wake her or the baby if either was sleeping._

_“Come in,” Chloe called, trying to sit up but wincing and stopping herself._

_He stepped just inside the room, holding his breath. “How’s it going?”_

_Chloe tensed when she saw him, then nodded. “Okay. You?”_

_“I’m fine,” he told her with a shrug. He took note of her tense posture and reached up to rub the back of his neck. “I just wanted to check and make sure you two were doing okay.”_

_“She’s okay, too.” Chloe nodded at the crib next to her bed where her daughter was sleeping peacefully. “Thanks to you.”_

_He shifted his gaze to the tiny crib, his expression softening as he peeked into it. “She’s beautiful.”_

_Chloe couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the baby. “Thank you.”_

_He smiled faintly, too, nodding. “You’re welcome.” His voice was quiet and sincere._

_“What you did today, Oliver...” she whispered after a long moment of silence, eyes still on her daughter._

_“Is what anyone in the same situation would have done,” he said firmly._

_“There wasn’t anyone there,” she said quietly, looking at him now. She had even called out for Clark, but he didn’t show._

_He shifted his gaze back to meet hers, nodding and exhaling slowly._

_Chloe’s eyes teared up as she stared at him. “I could have lost her.”_

_“But you didn’t.” He shook his head, moving a step farther into the room. “She’s okay. You’re both okay. And everything’s going to be fine.”_

_“Like I said,” she whispered. “Thanks to you.”_

_“Well, you had a lot to do with it, too. I mean you did the hard part.” He smiled faintly once more._

_“Your part wasn’t a lot easier.” She winced._

_“All that matters is that we got through it,” he told her._

_“And that she’s okay,” Chloe added, looking back at her daughter._

_“And that you’re both okay,” Oliver corrected._

_Chloe nodded slightly but remained silent for a long moment. “Do you think she looks like an Alice?”_

_“Well. She is blonde.” He smiled._

_“That hardly answers my question,” Chloe said, looking up at him._

_He moved a little closer to the crib where the baby lay, studying her. “Yeah. I can see it.”_

_“I think her eyes are green, it’s hard to tell.”_

_“Probably. Like her mom’s.”_

_“I hope so,” Chloe said quietly, taking a deep breath as she leaned back against her pillow._

_He glanced over at her. “I should let you rest,” he said just as quietly. “Do you need anything before I go?”_

_Chloe turned to face him at that and shook her head. “No. But you don’t have to go.”_

_Oliver paused. “I don’t?”_

_“Well, if you have to be somewhere.” She looked down and took a deep breath. “I’ve rested enough.”_

_“I don’t. Have to be somewhere.” He chewed the inside of his cheek._

_“If you want to sit down,” she invited, sitting up carefully but only slightly. She had been keeping him at a safe distance no matter how hard he had been trying to help her and be there for her, but after everything he had done, she felt like she couldn’t do that to him anymore. Not when they were the only two, well now three that were still around._

_“I’d like that,” he said after a moment, moving over to sit down in the chair beside her bed._

_Chloe watched him for a moment. “I haven’t been able to reach Lois yet,” she said quietly._

_“Is she still in Egypt?”_

_“Yeah, she must be asleep,” she told him, shrugging._

_“Did you leave her a message?”_

_Chloe smiled at that and shook her head. “I think she’d kill me if I told her over voicemail.”_

_“Well, yes. But a message to call you back.” He smiled, too._

_“I guess I could have done that, I’ll call her back soon but I doubt she’ll be able to fly in sooner than she was planning.”_

_He cocked his head. “Why?”_

_“I don’t know. She’s pretty much on her own there, the Planet was going to send someone to cover for her,” Chloe explained._

_“Oh.” He considered for a moment. “Well if travel turns out to be the issue, she can use my plane.”_

_“I’ll let her know, thank you,” she said sincerely._

_“Sure thing. Are you sure you don’t need anything? Water or anything?”_

_“They gave me food a little while ago. Did you eat anything?” She asked, cocking her head._

_“I’m okay,” he assured her._

_“Okay,” she agreed, turning to look back at her daughter and pausing when she realized her eyes were open. “I guess she woke up.”_

_“You want to hold her?” he asked, standing up again._

_“I don’t know if I should, she’s not crying...” she said uncertainly._

_“I don’t think they have to be crying before you can hold them,” he teased._

_“I don’t want her to be completely dependent,” she said, holding her breath._

_He studied her for a moment. “You’re scared.”_

_“Terrified,” she said quietly._

_Oliver pursed his lips, then reached down, very gently cradling the infant in his arms and close to his chest, looking at Chloe once more. “It’s going to be okay,” he said quietly, with confidence._

_“Thank you,” she said quietly, not taking her eyes off the baby._

_“Here,” he whispered, moving to her side and gently placing Alice into her arms for the second time that day._

_Chloe reached for the baby and held her to her chest, smiling when she did. “Hey.”_

_He simply smiled._

By the time they reached Alice’s school, Chloe was ready to rip Jimmy’s head off. Seeing him, standing by the front gates, talking to the security guard didn’t help at all. “Your lawyers can get me out if I kill him, right?” she muttered as he parked the car.

Oliver offered her a grim smile. “If not, the team can break you out and hide you.” 

“Sounds good.” She took a deep breath and reached for the door, her eyes on her ex-husband as she got out of the car. 

He followed her closely, resting his hand at the small of her back, jaw tensing at the sight of Jimmy. 

As soon as she was close enough to him, she didn’t waste time. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see my daughter,” he informed her, looking completely at ease. 

“You have no legal rights to remove her from school,” Oliver said tensely.

“You have no rights to her. Period.” Chloe said tightly. “And if you suddenly decide to take an interest in her life, you have to go through _me_ before you can get anywhere near her.”

“We’ll see about that,” he responded, giving her a look that said he wasn’t at all bothered by her threats. 

“Will we?” She stepped forward. “You tried to get me arrested, Jimmy. You had her taken to a home all on her own. She was terrified, she had nightmares all of last night because of what you did. And all for what? To show me that you can?” Her jaw clenched. “I would love to see what any judge would think about _that_.” 

“I have my reasons. I don’t want my daughter around...” He dropped his voice. “A _murderer_.” 

Oliver narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, hands clenched into fists. 

Chloe placed a hand on Oliver’s arm to stop him from stepping any further. “You have no rights to call her your daughter. On top of that, you’re irresponsible, selfish and a junkie, Jimmy. You’re hardly qualified.”

“We haven’t known each other for a long time now, Chloe. You have no right to make judgment calls about my character.” Jimmy glared at her.

“Exactly. And you have no right to go anywhere near my daughter.” Her voice was sharp as she glared back at him.

“Then I guess we’ll have to get lawyers involved. And police.” He arched an eyebrow at her, then turned and headed for his car. 

“Good luck,” she called. “Oh, and I wouldn’t count on Clark helping you once Lois hears about this.”

“I guess we’ll see,” he called back, climbing into his car and starting the engine. 

Chloe glared at him as he walked away then turned to Oliver. “I should get her out, bring her home.” 

“I’ll stand guard,” he told her, jaw still tense.

“Do me a favor and call your lawyer and see if you can get an Order of Protection or anything that will keep him away from her,” she said.

He nodded, pulling out his cell phone. “Go get Alice,” he told her.

Chloe nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself down before heading into the school.

Oliver watched her go before making the call to his lawyer. Then he called Bart to get him started on recon. Green Arrow had a job to do tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

Between talking to the school staff about Jimmy, letting her editor know she was finally taking the vacation time he’d been begging her to use and then spending a good two hours on a conference call with a couple of Ollie’s best lawyers, Chloe felt like she hadn’t stopped all day. 

She did feel better after talking to the guys and listening to their advice and reassurance that Jimmy wasn’t going to take her daughter away, but she still wanted this whole thing to be over. 

They were still staying at the penthouse with Oliver so he ordered them some food, then she gave Alice a shower and left her in the living room with Oliver so she could finally give Lois a call. 

Chloe knew talking to her cousin was going to help not only with making sure Clark wasn’t helping Jimmy in any way, but it was also going to help her feel more confident about Alice being perfectly safe. While she didn’t want to worry Lois, she was looking forward to being able to listen to her rant and join her, after all Lois had always disliked Jimmy. 

She sat back against Oliver’s large computer chair and closed her eyes as she listened to the phone ringing. 

“Lane,” her cousin answered a moment later, sounding distracted. 

“Hey, Lo,” she said tiredly. 

There was a change in Lois’s voice almost immediately. “What’s going on?” 

She should have been surprised that her cousin instantly knew something was up, but she wasn’t. She was glad that she didn’t have to ease into the conversation. “Has Clark mentioned anything about what Jimmy has been up to lately?”

After a moment of pause, Lois answered, “No. Why?” 

“He had me arrested yesterday. Alice was taken to a home and he apparently decided that he wants to take her away from me. He thinks I’m not fit to be her mother.” Chloe kept her voice calm, but she knew her cousin was about to explode.

All was quiet for three seconds. Then, “CLARK KENT, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT THE HELL NOW!” 

Chloe pulled the phone away from her ear then pulled it back. “According to Jimmy, Clark would help him take Alice away if it came to it. I don’t know how involved Clark actually was in all this.”

“Well, we’re going to find out.” Her voice was clipped.

“I’ll talk to you later, then. Let me know what you find out,” she said.

“You know I will.” In the background, Chloe could hear Clark asking Lois what was wrong. “Talk to you soon. Love you.” 

“Love you,” she said before hanging up. This was exactly what she’d been hoping for from her talk with her cousin. 

There was a light knock on the door and then Oliver stepped inside the room, arching his eyebrows at her. “She’s asleep.” 

Chloe paused and looked up as she turned the chair around. “Already?”

He shrugged. “Either that or she’s faking.” He dropped down into the chair beside her.

“She’s had a long couple of days, too.” Chloe stretched her arms in front of her and sighed deeply. “Lois is talking to Clark, she’ll let me know what she finds out.”

He watched her for a moment. “You need to unwind,” he told her.

Chloe looked over at him and smiled softly. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

Oliver waggled his fingers at her, smirking. “It is.” 

“Maybe once Lois tells me she sent Clark over to destroy him,” she said, only half kidding.

He heaved a sigh and motioned for her to turn around. Chloe arched a single eyebrow at him then turned as he asked. Oliver moved so he was standing right behind her. He placed his hands lightly on her shoulders, gently sweeping her hair off her neck.

She lowered her head and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “You don’t have to do that.”

“How can I not use my magic fingers to help out my best friend?” he asked, gently massaging her neck.

Chloe smirked but didn’t open her eyes, just let her shoulders relax. “The many interpretations to that sentence...”

“You may take that however you’d like,” he informed her, a smile tugging at his mouth.

She sighed deeply, making a quiet noise as he pressed down on a tense muscle. “Dangerous.”

“Is it now?” He made a circular motion with his thumbs.

“Mhmm.” Chloe leaned against his touch.

Oliver shifted closer, gently working his fingers over her muscles. “How so?” 

“What?” she muttered, opening her eyes and turning her head a little.

“How is it dangerous?” he murmured, his lips very near her ear.

“Oh.” She looked over at him and shook her head. “You’re a dangerous man.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “I’ve never been a danger to you.” 

Chloe pulled away from him and gave him a look. “Is that what you think?”

Pausing, he held her gaze for a long moment. “You think I have?” 

“Oh, I know you have,” she said quietly, searching his eyes. 

“When?” he asked, honestly surprised by her answer.

Chloe hesitated and shook her head. “I don’t think we should be having this conversation.” They had flirted before, had even almost kissed once, but she cared about Oliver too much to ruin what they had. 

He narrowed his eyes at her. “What are you afraid of here, Sullivan?” His voice was low, but it was light, teasing. 

She held her breath but smiled, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t call it fear.”

“What would you call it?” He was kneeling in front of her, still gazing at her intently. 

“Precaution,” she whispered, looking at him. 

“Oh,” he murmured.

“Ollie...” she said quietly. 

He forced himself to take a deep breath, nodding slightly. “I know.” 

She reached for his hand and squeezed it lightly. Oliver slid his fingers through hers, and reluctantly rose to his feet.

Chloe took a deep breath then stood up too. “Thanks for putting her to bed.”

“Anytime,” he said sincerely.

“Are you going out?” She asked, hand still in his.

“No, not tonight.” He gave her hand a light squeeze. 

“Okay.” She squeezed his hand once more then reluctantly let go as she reached for her phone. “Just need to wait for Lois to call back now, I guess.”

Oliver nodded, watching her for a moment longer. “You wanna watch some TV or something til she calls?” 

“Yeah, that sounds good.” She started toward the door then paused. “Did you talk to Bart?”

“He’s looking into it,” he assured her, following her out of the room.

“Thank you.” She looked up at him again before starting down the hall. 

* * * 

After he got off the phone with Bart, Oliver made his way back to the living room, dropping down onto the sofa beside Chloe. “What’s going on?” 

“Well, apparently Clark did encourage Jimmy about coming to see Alice, but the way Jimmy went about it was all on him,” she said, laying back against the couch. 

“Good.” Because he wasn’t looking forward to having a super-brawl with a man who could literally bend him into a pretzel. 

Chloe sighed deeply and nodded. “I’m glad he’s not involved, but Lois said she was sending him to talk to Jimmy. I doubt that will do much good.”

“I don’t know. Jimmy’s always been Clark’s lapdog, so.” He shrugged.

“That’s true.” She sighed and leaned against his side. 

Oliver draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “We’ll see what happens,” he murmured.

She closed her eyes for a moment then turned her head to look up at him. “Where did you go? When Lois called...”

“Just checked on Alice and answered some work emails. And I talked to Bart. He found the location where Jimmy’s staying,” he explained, resting his head against hers. 

“Oh, where is he?” she asked, hoping he’d be in Metropolis already.

“He’s staying at that motel on 22nd,” he told her.

She sighed softly and nodded. “I’ll stay here with her tomorrow. Hopefully Clark will talk him into going back.” 

“If anyone can get through to him, it’ll be Clark.” He sounded a lot more confident than he felt. 

“Yeah.” And that was the problem. She didn’t believe Clark was going to put a lot of effort into it.

He gave her a gentle squeeze. “What do you think? Can you get some sleep?” 

“I can try,” she said quietly, reluctantly pulling away from him. “You?”

“I think so.” He nodded, meeting her eyes.

“Okay,” she agreed in a whisper, reaching for his hand. “Thank you for everything you did today.” 

He smiled softly, sliding his fingers through hers. “You’re very welcome.” 

“Once this is cleared up, we’re definitely taking a vacation,” she promised.

“Anywhere you want to go,” Oliver assured her.

“Can’t wait,” she said sincerely, her stomach tightening as she looked at him. 

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Goodnight,” he whispered.

She turned her head just slightly and pressed her lips to his cheek, too. “Goodnight.”

Oliver pulled away to look at her once more, offering her a soft smile before heading out of the room.

Chloe watched him go then sighed deeply and shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. One issue at a time. 

* * * 

Getting into the motel room had been easy. It was on the second floor, so he’d simply climbed up onto the balcony and jimmied the lock. Within moments he was inside the room in full Green Arrow garb, including the bow and quiver on his back. Jimmy was apparently taking the world’s longest shower, so he made himself comfortable by leaning against the door in the room. After he disconnected the phone, that is. And hid Jimmy’s personal cell phone under the bed’s mattress. 

About twenty minutes later, Jimmy stepped out of the bathroom, completely naked as he brushed the towel against his wet hair. 

Oliver looked away instantly. “Put some clothes on,” he ordered, voice distorted.

Jimmy yelped and stared in the direction of the voice before rushing back into the bathroom. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Paying you a little visit.” He folded his arms across his chest.

Jimmy came back a moment later, wrapped in a towel and holding a bottle of shampoo as a weapon. “Get out! I’m calling the cops.”

Oliver snorted, easily reaching out and taking the bottle from him. “Good luck with that,” he responded, tossing the shampoo aside. He shoved the other man up against the wall, glaring at him. 

Jimmy gasped, staring up at him. “This is assault!” 

“And if you don’t shut your mouth and listen to what I have to say, it’s gonna be a lot worse than that,” he warned. 

He swallowed hard but remained quiet this time. 

“You’re going to stay away from Chloe and Alice,” Oliver said calmly, voice still distorted. “You’re going to pack your shit and go back to Metropolis and never step foot in my city again. I’ll know the second you do if you do.” 

Jimmy struggled to free himself, then gave up a moment later. “She’s _my_ daughter!”

“And no judge is ever going to grant a drug addict custody of a young child he’s never even met or helped raise in _any_ way, including providing child support.” He moved his face closer to Jimmy’s. “So save yourself the time, and the money, because whatever it is you’re out to do isn’t going to work. I have billions and billions of dollars and I will happily use that money to fight you every step of the way _and_ make your life a personal hell. Do you understand?” 

Jimmy tried to straighten himself, but didn’t manage much since Oliver was holding him down. He did glare at him. “No judge is going to leave a child with two murderers.” 

Oliver chuckled. “You think there’s a judge I can’t afford to pay off?” he asked darkly.

“There are honest judges out there still,” he argued. “And Superman will help me.”

“You do remember that Superman is engaged to Chloe’s cousin, right? You really think he’s going to pick your side over Lois’s?” He smirked. 

“We’ll see,” he said tightly. 

“However you look at it, you’re the loser in this scenario.” He backed away just a little, shrugging nonchalantly. “Just how bad you lose is your choice.” 

“Don’t be so sure I’m going to lose,” he threatened. 

Oliver arched an eyebrow, not bothered by the threat. “I hope it doesn’t come out that you murdered Davis Bloome, Jimmy,” he said gravely. 

“Everything you’re threatening me with are lies.” His jaw clenched. 

“Except about you being an addict. And about me having more than enough money to tie this up in court for the rest of your life. And that you’ve never paid a cent in child support or seen your kid, let alone expressed interest in it. The rest?” Oliver shrugged. “The evidence won’t suggest anything other than what I’m saying.” 

“Your money can’t buy everything.” Jimmy said.

He smirked. “Sure.” He turned, heading for the door. 

Jimmy didn’t follow him, but he called after him. “You think doing all of this for her is going to get you anywhere? She only cares about herself. She’s using you.”

Oliver didn’t turn around, simply shook his head. He wondered how Jimmy had managed to even keep himself alive up to this point. What a moron.


	7. Chapter 7

It was almost three a.m. when Ollie found himself tiptoeing through his own penthouse, trying his best not to wake up either of the sleeping blondes down the hall. But when he heard her clear her throat, he realized one of them wasn’t in bed asleep at all. Busted. 

“So much for going to bed. Extra curricular activities tonight, Arrow?” she asked.

“I couldn’t sleep so I decided to patrol?” 

“Yeah? And most of that patrol just happened to take place in the motel Jimmy is staying at?” she said, stepping forward.

He sighed, but didn’t turn to face her. “Yeah.” Because that’s where his main concern was right now. 

“Was Clark there?” she asked as she moved to stand right behind him.

“No.” He blew out a breath and turned to face her, unable to really see her expression in the darkness. 

Chloe sighed softly and nodded. “Good. Did you do anything to Jimmy?”

“Hopefully I scared the hell out of him,” Oliver said honestly. “But I didn’t hurt him.” 

“Good,” she repeated. “I didn’t want him to have anything else on us.”

“I didn’t give him anything like that,” he assured her. 

She watched him for a moment, then nodded. “You didn’t have to go, you know?”

“Yes, I did,” he said quietly. 

Chloe smiled slightly at that and nodded. “I know you feel that way.” She reached for his hand and squeezed it.

“You’re not mad?” He looked down at their hands. 

“I’m mad you went without telling me, especially since Clark could have been there.”

He let go of her hand long enough to pull off his glove, showing her the glowing green rock on his finger. “I was prepared.” 

She looked down at the ring then nodded. “Of course you were.”

“I’m a lot less impulsive than I used to be,” he said lightly.

“I don’t know about _that_...” She arched an eyebrow.

His eyes widened. “Meaning what?” 

“Meaning, you still went. You sneaked out to go, too.”

“Yes, but I thought about it beforehand. It wasn’t impulsive. I planned,” he pointed out.

“That’s even worse! You lied to me, it was all premeditated.”

“Premeditated but not impulsive?” 

“Premeditated this time, even though you knew you shouldn’t be doing this, I don’t think that helps your case any, Ollie,” she said, arching an eyebrow.

“I don’t regret it, Chloe,” he said honestly, removing his other glove, as well, and depositing both of them on the table. He reached out and flipped on the light. 

Chloe squinted at the sudden light then shook her head. “I know you don’t, but you’re doing this to help me protect my daughter, the least you can do is let me make sure you’re okay.”

He reached out, resting his hands lightly on her shoulders. “And I am,” he promised. “See?” 

She lifted her hands to his arms and nodded. “Which is why I’m not completely mad at you.” 

“Good. I don’t like it when you’re mad at me,” he admitted, shifting closer to her. 

“I am a little disappointed, though,” she said quietly, watching him. 

“Because I didn’t tell you?” he asked, searching her eyes.

“Because you wasted the opportunity to punch him.” She smirked. 

Oliver smirked, too, then leaned in and pulled her closer to him in a hug. “Very cute.” 

Chloe smiled and wrapped her arms around him too, shrugging. “So what did you say?”

“I may have told him that I sure hoped no one found out he killed Davis Bloome.” He arched his eyebrows.

Chloe arched her eyebrows. “And what did he say?”

“That it was a lie. I told him it wouldn’t look like a lie when it came to the evidence.” 

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “He can’t be naive enough to believe he could beat you in court.”

Oliver gave her a look. “This is Jimmy we’re talking about.” 

Chloe sighed and nodded. “I’m just glad Alice didn’t take after him.” 

Grimacing, he met her eyes. “No kidding.” 

“And your influence isn’t too bad, either,” she teased.

He smirked. “Of course not.” 

“Even though you gave her a bow and arrow before she turned three,” she said pointedly. 

“That’s not a bad influence.” 

“No, just a dangerous one.” Even though she was trying to be serious, she couldn’t hold back her smile. 

“It was made of foam tips,” he pointed out.

“Still encouraging dangerous behavior,” she said.

Oliver shook his head. “You do that every day when you fix her breakfast.” He flashed her a bright, playful smile.

Chloe gave him a look. “Cute, but that is a lie. Some days we have cereal.”

He smirked at her, arching his eyebrows.

“Besides, why would I worry about cooking when I have you to do it?”

“Oh, so that’s why you keep me around,” he teased. “I see how it is.” 

“I’m sorry, you didn’t know?” She gave him her best surprised look.

He tickled her on her hip lightly. “Cute.” 

Chloe squirmed and shook her head but didn’t move away from him. 

He smiled at her reaction, shifting closer to her and winding his arms around her waist, gazing at her once more. Chloe wrapped her arms around him too and took a deep breath as she looked up at him. 

He watched her for a long moment. “I guess we should probably get actual sleep tonight,” he murmured without pulling away.

“Easier said...” she trailed off, shaking her head. 

“Yeah,” he agreed quietly.

She looked at him for a long moment then sighed softly, shaking her head. She knew what he was doing and as much as she didn’t want to pull away, she knew she should.

Wordlessly, he dipped his head, kissing her forehead softly as he shut his eyes. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, shifting closer as she did and resting her cheek against his chest.

Oliver sighed, tightening his arms around her and resting his chin atop her head. 

Chloe closed her eyes and just kept her arms around him. With everything he did for her and Alice, she didn’t tell him nearly enough how much he meant for them.

_She hadn’t seen Oliver in over a month. Not since he went by the hospital to see her and Alice, hours after he had delivered her daughter and saved both of their lives. Or at least saved both of them from losing each other._

_But with Lois staying with them and with how little sleep she’d been getting, even though she meant to talk to him more than once, it just kept slipping her mind. But not today. Lois was back in Metropolis, at least for a couple of weeks, and the date hadn’t gone by unnoticed, either._

_Of course, when she called him earlier to see if he wanted to come over and see Alice now that she was a little bigger and a lot more alert, she made no mention of it. She had also made no mention of dinner, even though she asked him to be over around seven._

_Just past six-thirty she had already showered and bathed Alice, had dressed herself and her daughter and she was watching Alice play with her hands in her bassinet while she waited for Oliver._

_A few moments later there was a quiet knock on her front door and outside of it, Oliver shuffled uncertainly from one foot to the other. He wasn’t sure what to make of her sudden contact again, even though he’d felt like they were on better terms the last time he’d seen her._

_With a deep breath, Chloe stood up and, after checking on Alice one more time, she headed for the door and opened it. Smiling up at him as she stepped aside. “Hey, come in.”_

_He offered her a smile in return, hesitating before stepping inside. “Is everything okay?”_

_“Yeah, she’s awake so, don’t worry about noise.” She closed the door, locking it just in case before turning toward the bassinet once more._

_He walked over to the bassinet and peeked inside, smiling softly at the sight of the tiny infant._

_Chloe looked down at her daughter too. “A little different than last time you saw her, right?”_

_“Yes, definitely,” he agreed, glancing at her sideways. “Can I...” He gestured toward Alice._

_“Of course.” She took a step forward. “Do you know how to?”_

_He arched his eyebrows, nodding. “I handed her to you while you were in the hospital,” he reminded her, a hint of teasing in his voice._

_“Well, I was just making sure. It took me a lot of practice,” she admitted, smiling as she stepped aside. “Go ahead.”_

_“And you’re doing fine, obviously.” He carefully leaned down, scooping the baby into his arms and cradling her to his chest._

_“I haven’t dropped her yet,” Chloe admitted, watching him for a moment before heading over to the couch and sitting down._

_“Of course not.” He moved to sit down beside her, smiling down at the infant._

_Chloe kept her eyes on her daughter, remaining quiet for a moment. “I’m glad you could come over.”_

_“I’m glad you asked.” He brushed his finger across one of the little girl’s hands and smiled when she curled her fingers around it._

_She smiled too as she watched Alice. “I was surprised you didn’t already have plans.”_

_“My social calendar is surprisingly clear as of late.” He didn’t look at her._

_Chloe sighed and nodded. “You haven’t heard from the boys, either?”_

_“I had a text from Bart this morning.” He chewed the inside of his cheek, shrugging._

_“Well, there’s no reason you should spend your birthday alone,” Chloe said._

_Oliver paused, then glanced at her sideways. “Is that why you called?”_

_“I’ve been meaning to call for a few days, but I have been all over the place lately,” she admitted with a small smile._

_“Well, I figured,” he told her with a small smile of his own, looking down at Alice again._

_“I didn’t even really get a chance to thank you for everything you did,” she added._

_“You did at the hospital,” Oliver reminded her._

_“I did?” Chloe shook her head. “I don’t remember a lot of it. And anyway, I wanted to apologize, too.”_

_“Chloe, you don’t have any reason to apologize to me.”_

_“Yes, I do.” She sat up. “You have done nothing but help me since I told you about Alice. And even before that...” she trailed off, but she wasn’t going to get into the whole mess with Davis. “And I know I’ve been keeping you, and everyone else really, at arm’s length.”_

_He was quiet for a moment, smiling softly at Alice as she stared at him with wide eyes. “Forgiven.”_

_“Thank you,” she said quietly, watching him. She was surprised by how easily he had taken it, but considering the effort he’d been making so far, it shouldn’t have surprised her._

_Oliver nodded, glancing at her once more with a soft smile._

_She smiled back at him, sitting up then standing when the intercom went off. “Must be the food,” she said. “Are you okay with her?”_

_“Yeah, we’re fine,” he assured her with a smile._

_“Okay.” Chloe looked at her daughter a second longer then headed away. She came back a moment later and set the containers over the dining room table. “Hope you’re okay with lasagna,” she said as she headed back toward them._

_“Love it, actually. One of my favorites to make, also.” He was pretty sure that was going to surprise her._

_“I’ve heard rumors about that, but I haven’t heard of anyone who has seen proof.” She stepped in front of him. “Want me to take her?”_

_“If you want.” He stood up slowly, carefully shifting her into Chloe’s waiting arms._

_Chloe took her daughter carefully and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We’ll see if she’ll stay in the bassinet while we eat,” she said, gently setting her down._

_“Does she cry often?” he asked curiously._

_“She’s pretty quiet. But she will cry if she needs something.” Chloe pulled the bassinet over next to the table carefully. “What do you wanna drink?”_

_“Water’s fine,” he told her. “Want me to grab some glasses?”_

_“Are you sure? There’s wine. I can’t have any, but you can,” she offered._

_“I’m sure.” He smiled softly._

_“Then water works, thank you.” She reached inside the bags and started pulling the food out._

_“No problem.” He paused glancing around. “Where do you keep your glasses?”_

_“Cupboard on top of the sink,” she called._

_Nodding, he made his way into the kitchen and over to the cupboard, pulling down two glasses for water._

_“There’s also garlic bread,” she said as she finished setting the table._

_“You went all out.” He arched his eyebrows._

_“Well, I wanted to make sure you had a nice dinner, at least.” She checked on Alice one more time before taking her seat. “Besides, I was hoping you’d want to come over more often if the food is good.” After adding the last part, Chloe held her breath as she kept her eyes on Oliver, unsure of what to expect of his reaction to that._

_He looked over at her, a smile spreading across his face. “Yeah?”_

_Chloe nodded, unable to stop herself from smiling back at him. “If you want to.”_

_“I’d like that very much,” he said quietly._

_“Me too,” she said sincerely._

_Oliver held her gaze, nodding slightly._

_“It will be nice for her to have someone other than me and Lois around.” She smiled._

_“After everything that’s...” He paused. “I’m kind of surprised you’re okay with me being around her.”_

_“There’s a lot I’ve done I’m not proud of, either. Things I never want her to know. But you, for her, will be the guy who helped her come into this world,” she said quietly._

_He smiled softly at that, looking down and nodding. “I’d like to be there for her. For both of you,” he whispered._

_“We’d be lucky to have you,” she said quietly._

_“Ditto,” he told her._

“You know you’re as much a part of this family as Alice and I, right?” She whispered against his chest. 

He was quiet for a moment, lifting his hand to stroke her hair. “I know,” he murmured.

Chloe took a deep breath and looked up at him, smiling softly. 

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We should head to bed.” 

“Yeah,” she agreed, reluctantly pulling away from him. 

Oliver gazed at her and smiled faintly. “Goodnight, Chloe.”

“Night, Ollie,” she said quietly before starting down the hallway. 

He watched her go, then sighed softly, rubbing a hand over his face.


	8. Chapter 8

Although both Chloe and Alice were perfectly comfortable at Oliver’s, Chloe was already getting anxious about not having a routine. It had been a couple of days since Oliver had gone to see Jimmy and, as far as she knew, her ex-husband was still stupid enough to linger in Star City. 

She didn’t feel comfortable enough sending Alice to school, so she was still staying home from work to be with her, and while she loved spending time with her daughter, Alice still needed long naps and Chloe had always liked keeping busy. 

Usually, when Oliver was around she was pretty okay, but days like today, where he had back to back board meetings, she was on her own. While Alice napped, she had finished up the one story her editor had allowed her to have and now, she was catching up on her emails and keeping an ear out for any sign that she was up again. 

When Chloe finally heard Alice calling for her, she nearly sighed in relief. Sitting around idly made her think about things she should never be thinking about. Things like thinking of Oliver in a way she knew she couldn’t allow herself to focus on.

With a deep breath and a smile, she opened the bedroom door all the way, smiling when Alice held her arms out to her. “Hey,” she greeted quietly, sitting down on the bed and hugging her daughter to her chest, then pressing a kiss to her head. “Good nap?” 

Alice nodded, hugging her mom back. “Mhmm.” 

“Good,” Chloe muttered, rubbing her back gently. “Why don’t we get up and go to the beach for a while?” she offered. It wasn’t warm enough for Alice to get into the water, but it was nice enough out that she could play on the sand. 

At that, Alice looked up at her with a bright smile and nodded. “And Ollie,” she said. 

Chloe couldn’t help but smile. Ollie had been working from home a lot, so Alice had gotten used to having both of them around all the time very quickly. “Ollie is at work, but we can see if he can meet us there later, what do you think?” 

Even though her face fell, Alice nodded again. “But if I don’t have to go to school how come he has to work?” she asked. 

“Sometimes grown ups have to work even when everyone else is on vacation.” Chloe picked Alice up and set her own down on her feet as she got up as well. “We’ll change and give him a call, okay?”

Alice hugged Chloe’s legs then started toward the suitcases they had brought over. “Okay,” she agreed quietly. 

Before they had a chance to do much else, Oliver’s voice could be heard from down the hallway. “Anyone miss me...?” 

“Ollie!” Alice squeed instantly, then rushed out of the room and down the hallway, not stopping until she had her arms around him. 

Chloe smiled, following Alice down the hallway, pausing a few feet from them. “Looks like we don’t have to call him, after all.”

Oliver lifted her up and into his arms, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “You were gonna call me?” he asked, looking between them and letting his gaze settle on Chloe. 

“So we can go to the beach,” Alice announced, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

“She didn’t want to go without you,” Chloe told him.

He couldn’t help but smile at that. “I think the beach sounds great.” He hugged Alice for a moment longer then carefully set her on her feet. “Why don’t you find your bathing suit and beach toys while I talk to your mom for a minute?” 

Chloe arched her eyebrows at that, keeping her eyes on Ollie even as Alice rushed past her, back toward the bedroom. “What’s up?” she asked, taking a couple of steps forward.

“Our pain in the you know what made his way back to Metropolis early this morning according to Bart.” 

“Oh?” She brightened at that. “Really?”

He smiled at her. “I wouldn’t tease about this.” 

“I know.” She shook her head, breathing. “It’s just, I didn’t expect him to be smart enough to just leave.

Oliver nodded, watching her. “Also, that means that you owe me.” His tone was matter-of-fact even though the glint in his eyes were playful.

“Do I?” she asked, cocking her head. “How so? I mean, you did miss the golden opportunity to hurt him...”

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “I believe we agreed on some kind of vacation.” He smirked at her. 

“Oh, _that_.” Chloe considered him for a moment. “I guess we did but, I don’t know if it’s smart to go anywhere yet?”

“I think it’ll be fine,” he said confidently.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Let me talk to your lawyers before you start planning anything?”

“Of course.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Now get ready for the beach, woman. We’ve got sand castles to build.” 

Chloe smiled, closing her eyes for a second then reaching for his hand and squeezing it. “I don’t think you’re wearing beach friendly clothes, either.”

“Ah, no. But I’m going to remedy that,” he promised, looking down at their hands.

She looked down too, before tugging gently on his hand then letting it go as she started down the hallway. “Good, I would hate for you to have sand all over your Armani,” she teased.

“That’s what dry cleaners are for,” he responded with a smirk.

“Mhmm,” Chloe said, glancing over her shoulder. “Somehow, I don’t think you’ll be nearly as comfortable in that shirt and tie.”

He grinned at her. “Valid point.” 

“C’mon, Alice will wait for no one,” she told him, smiling once more before ducking into the guest room.

Oliver watched her disappear and smiled softly, shaking his head. She was right about that.

* * * 

A few minutes and a lot of sun screen later, they made it to the beach. Ollie set up the umbrella for them and Alice wasted no time before starting on her sand castle. The two of them were helping her, but once Chloe made sure her daughter was entertained by the sand enough, she turned to Oliver. “So where are you thinking of going?”

“I have a house up in the mountains. Northern California. So it’s not _too_ far. But I don’t make it up there very often, either,” 

“Oh, well if you’re not planning on leaving the state, I guess we should be okay.” 

He nodded, watching her for a moment, then glancing over at Alice with a soft smile.

Chloe watched him as he watched her daughter then took a deep breath and looked away at the ocean. “She’s gonna miss having you around when we go back home.”

He paused at that for a long moment, considering. “You know, there’s really no reason you guys have to leave.” His voice was quiet.

She turned to look at him with arched eyebrows, questioning, but didn’t say anything.

“I like having you guys and it’s not like I’m lacking for room,” he said softly. 

“I like you being around, too,” she admitted. “But you might still need some time for yourself every now and then.”

“That’s...really not a concern I have, if I’m being totally honest, Chloe.” He glanced at her sideways. “But if you need time with just the two of you, I understand that completely.” 

“No. That’s not it either,” Chloe told him. “But you have a life outside of us.”

“I have work outside of you,” he corrected her.

She pursed her lips together, smiling slightly before nodding. “Yeah.” Oliver was rarely, if ever at his place. He spent most nights either on her couch, or in the guest room if she got him to go to bed. But still, he still had a choice if he wanted one. “You don’t like being there on your own?”

“It’s a big place,” he answered, looking over at her once again and arching his eyebrows. What he meant was, _it’s too quiet._

Chloe knew what he meant, she also knew how much having a sort of a family around meant to him. “How about you come live with us, instead? You know, officially and not on a ‘crashing on the couch’ capacity?”

Oliver cocked his head, watching her. “Yeah?” 

She took a deep breath and nodded. “That way you can still go to the penthouse if you need a break, and none of us will miss having the others around.”

“I think that would work,” he said, thinking about it. 

“But there’s one condition,” she said, arching her eyebrows.

“I have to cook every night?” His voice was teasing.

She shook her head. “Absolutely not, that’d mean I’d have to clean the kitchen every night. The condition is that you have to actually use the bed.”

“Even for naps?” He arched his eyebrows. 

Chloe squinted as she pretended to consider this. “Naps are open for discussion. But if it’s past ten PM, then you must be in bed, even for naps.”

Oliver grinned. “I think I can handle that.” 

“Good.” She grinned back at him. “Then we have a deal.”

He held his hand out for her to shake, eyes shining.

She wrapped her fingers around his hand and shook it, smiling up at him. 

* * * 

Oliver set their suitcases just inside the door and then ushered Chloe and Alice into the house. “So this is it.” 

“Woah,” Chloe said quietly as she walked further into the house with Alice, her eyes on the windows that faced the back side of the mountain, there was nothing as high up so she could see a small town they had passed about an hour before getting there. “Tell me again why you don’t come here?”

“Lack of time, mostly. Plus who wants to go on vacation alone?” He smiled at her.

“Well, you can invite us anytime,” she said, smiling back at him. 

“Mommy, is this our house now?” Alice asked, looking up at her.

Oliver smiled at Alice’s question. “Sort of,” he told the little girl. “We don’t live here all the time, but we can come visit.” 

“We still need to go back home, so you can go back to school and Ollie and I go to work,” Chloe explained. 

Alice nodded, then pursed her lips. “Which one?”

He glanced at Chloe. “Well. What would you say if I were to come and live with the two of you?” 

She looked up at him with wide eyes. “In our house? The old one?” she asked.

Oliver nodded, kneeling down so he was in front of her. “Yeah, your old one.” 

Alice smiled, looking up at her mom then back at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Yeah!”

“Good.” He hugged her in return, kissing her head.

“So you’ll be my daddy?” She asked brightly.

At that, he grew still, his eyes widening as he looked up at Chloe, not sure how to respond.

Chloe looked down at them, mouth hanging open for a second before she could think of something to say. “What makes you say that?” she asked her daughter. 

“Lily got a daddy when her mom’s friend lived with them,” she explained. “So Ollie can be my daddy.” 

He held his breath, picking her up as he rose to his feet. “You’d like that?” he asked quietly.

Alice smiled up at him and nodded.

Oliver rubbed her back, then set her down on the floor. “Why don’t you check out the room down the hall?’” he suggested, pointing.

She looked in the direction he pointed then nodded, grinning. “Okay!” She rushed down the hall a moment later.

He glanced at Chloe. “It’s filled with toys,” he explained.

Chloe just stared at him for a moment, then down the hall momentarily before focusing on him again. “I-- had no idea she was even thinking of something like that.”

Oliver nodded slightly. “I guess it’s the age thing.” 

“I don’t know.” Chloe said quietly. “I have no idea what to say to her if she asks again...”

He chewed the inside of his cheek. “I wanted to say yes.” 

With a deep breath, Chloe looked at him for a long moment. “Well, you’re the only father figure she’ll ever have.”

“Ever’s a long time,” he murmured.

“It is,” she agreed quietly, glancing down the hallway then back at him. “Which is why I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want that kind of commitment.” 

“I meant...there’s nothing saying that you won’t find a great guy that you want to spend your life with.” 

Chloe paused at that, smiling a little before shaking her head. “I’m not interested in that,” she said. After Davis, Jimmy and even Clark, it had taken her a long time before trusting someone new again and the only person who had never disappointed her the way they had was Oliver. She knew she wouldn’t find someone else like him. She didn’t want to find someone else. 

“So you’d rather just spend your whole life alone?” he asked quietly, frowning.

She considered him for a moment then shrugged. “I just don’t expect to find anyone, not with the lives we have and not someone I would actually trust enough to be a part of Alice’s life.”

Oliver looked down at the floor for a moment, nodding slightly and falling silent.

Chloe remained silent for a while then took a deep breath. “You have a real chance at that, though.”

“Spending my life alone?” He smirked faintly.

“ _Not_ spending your life alone,” she said seriously.

“Well, there’s basically only one way that’s not going to happen. Because there’s someone that I --” He paused, shaking his head.

Her stomach instantly clenched. She didn’t know what he was going to say, but the fact that there might be someone caught her completely off guard. “What?”

Oliver took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. She isn’t interested.” 

Chloe held her breath and shook her head. “She’d be an idiot not to be interested.”

“She’s not an idiot.” He gazed at her. “She’s just scared.” 

At his words and the look on his face, she felt her chest tighten, but she didn’t want to assume anything, not with Ollie.

He reached out hesitantly, cupping her cheek in his hand. He knew with Chloe he had to make things pretty damn clear or she’d start assuming he was in love with some woman she didn’t even know anything about.

Chloe stared at him for a long moment, then looked down, even as she leaned into his touch. “Like I said, an idiot,” she muttered, her eyes tearing up slightly.

His face fell. “So you’re really not interested,” he whispered.

She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. “No, Oliver. That’s not what I mean...” she opened her eyes and lifted her head away from his touch. “You mean the world to me and that’s the problem.”

Oliver held his breath, waiting for her to continue as he fell silent.

“If I screw it up... I don’t wanna lose you. I don’t want Alice to lose you...” she said tightly.

He relaxed. “Chloe, that’s not going to happen,” he said seriously.

“How do you know?” she asked, heart beating fast. “How can you be sure?”

“Because there’s no way you could ever do anything that would push me that far away,” Oliver said honestly.

Pursing her lips together, she looked down and hesitantly reached for his hand. “And if it just doesn’t work out?” 

“You’ll still always be my best friend.” He squeezed her hand.

Her face softened as she turned to look up at him. “Promise?” she asked, not caring if she sounded childish.

“Swear it,” he whispered, stepping closer to her.

Chloe took a deep breath then nodded slowly as she watched him, her heart beating fast against her chest. 

He hesitated, then dipped his head, kissing her softly on the mouth as he cupped her face in his hands. 

She closed her eyes and lifted her hands to his arms, kissing him back just as softly. They had come so close to this so many times before, but she had always stopped them. Or he had. But now that they had allowed themselves this, even with the simple kiss she could feel this was as strong as she’d feared. Or hoped.

After a long moment, he pulled away to gaze at her, smiling softly, his eyes filled with warmth.

Chloe took a deep breath before focusing on him. She lifted a hand to cup his cheek and after a second, smiled softly, too.

He’d been waiting for this for so long, for her to agree to his subtle but persistent advances, that now he could hardly believe it was actually happening. He kissed her again, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against hers. 

She kept her eyes closed for a moment longer then, with a deep breath, she pulled away to look at him again. “I’m not sure I even know how to do this anymore,” she said quietly. 

“We can figure it out. Together,” he said just as quietly.

Chloe smiled softly at his words and nodded. “That could work.”

“It’s what usually works with us.” 

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I can’t argue with that.” Not when it had been that way since her daughter had been born. 

He brushed his thumb over her cheek and kissed her forehead before pulling away. “Why don’t I give you the tour?” 

“Yeah,” she agreed. “And we probably need to find Alice.”

“I’m pretty sure she’s thoroughly entertained,” he told her with a small grin, leading her down the hall and toward the room. 

“Wow,” Chloe gasped, barely being able to find her daughter in the middle of all the dolls and stuffed animals and other toys Oliver had in the room. “When did you do this?”

“I may have had a little help from a certain speedy friend.” He smiled again.

“Of course you did.” She smiled and shook her head at him. “I have no idea how we’ll get her to go home.”

Oliver simply grinned.


	9. Chapter 9

Oliver carried a box of his books into Chloe’s apartment and set it down beside the sofa, glancing around. “I think that’s the last of it,” he told her.

Chloe looked around at the boxes then nodded. “I guess that isn’t too much, we can put the books over there with mine,” she said, starting toward the bookcase in the far end of the room.

Nodding, he followed her across the room, hauling the books with him. “If there’s any space,” he teased. 

“Well I’m sure we can stack some up there, on top of the bookcase?” She smirked. 

“Might have to move a couple pictures around to squeeze them in.” He nudged her lightly with his elbow.

“Then we’ll need a new bookcase altogether, because I plan on adding pictures to it,” she said, nudging him back.

“I’m sure we can afford a new bookcase.” He smirked.

“I suppose we can.” She smiled up at him. “And now the kitchen will actually have all kinds of kitchenware,” she said, looking back at the boxes and walking toward a big one that was labelled ‘cooking stuff’. 

“Yep. And we might need a bigger dining room table.” 

Chloe cocked her head at that. “There’s plenty of room for us?” 

“Well, yeah but if Bart ever comes over, he’ll have to sit on the couch and I doubt you want Bart eating in the living room.” He winked at her.

Chloe wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Good point. Maybe we can just bring the one from the penthouse over. I think there’s enough room.”

He looked at the table, considering that for a moment. “Yeah, I think so too.” 

“We can do that, then. We’ll have to pay him in food for watching Alice, anyway,” she said. 

“Pizza and Mexican food.” He smiled a little, shaking his head.

Chloe nodded then took a deep breath. “Okay, what else?”

“I think that’s it,” he told her with a shrug, then paused. “Well, actually I guess there is one more issue we should talk about.” 

Chloe was sure she knew what was about to come, but she just arched her eyebrows at him. “Yeah?”

“Where am I sleeping?” he asked, arching his eyebrows at her.

“Well, I don’t know,” she said carefully. “I mean, you can sleep with me, but is it too early for Alice to know?” she asked, chewing on the inside of her lip. While they were holding hands and hugging in front of Alice, they had always done that so it wasn’t a big change for her, but she didn’t know what her daughter would think when she came into her room and found Oliver there with her.

“I think that’s your call to make, Chloe.” His voice was quiet.

Chloe sighed softly. “I don’t know how to tell her. I don’t even know if it will matter for her. We have fallen asleep together on the couch how many times before?” 

“Quite a few,” Oliver agreed, watching her. 

“What do you think?” she asked, holding his gaze.

“I think right now she’s probably too young to really understand the difference. But that won’t last forever.” 

“I know it won’t, but if she gets used to it now, it won’t be a big deal in the future. Well, not the fact that you’re sleeping with me, anyway.” She had no idea how she was going to handle the whole father issue with Alice, and she and Oliver hadn’t really talked about that since Alice asked him, either.

He considered that for a long moment as he started sliding his books onto the bookshelf. “And the other part? The dad part?” His voice was quiet.

“I think that’s more your decision than mine.” She kept her eyes on him even though he had his back to her.

Oliver turned his head to look at her. “I’d be happy to be her dad,” he said honestly.

“You know that, unofficially, she already sees you like that, right?” Chloe asked, stepping closer to him.

A small smile touched his lips and he nodded, holding her gaze. “I know.” 

“Then I guess we can just make it official.” Her stomach tightened even as she spoke, but after spending the past week completely alone with Oliver and Alice, and finally allowing her and Oliver to take the next step in their relationship, helped her realize that she was the one standing in the way of Oliver really being a part of their family and after all these years, he had more than earned his place with them.

He watched her, sensing her apprehension. He moved over to stand in front of her. “It’s going to be fine,” he whispered, reaching up to cup her cheek.

She held her breath even as she covered his hand with her own. “I know.”

He smiled softly, then leaned in and kissed her on the mouth.

Chloe kissed him back, relaxing as she wrapped her arms around him.

After a long moment, he leaned his head against hers, soft smile on his face. “Come on and help me unpack,” he teased. 

“Okay, but if you’re unpacking in my room, we’re going to have to organize my closet,” she said with a soft smile of her own.

Oliver smiled, his eyes bright. “Somehow...I think I can handle that.” 

“Good to know.” She relaxed as she leaned in and kissed him once more.

He slid his arms around her waist, tugging her closer. Unpacking could wait. 

Chloe lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. Breaking the kiss a moment later. “I guess you should try the bed before you commit to sleeping on it,” she teased, suddenly feeling a lot more confident in their decisions.

“I think that’s a brilliant idea.” 

“Glad you agree.” She pulled away from him and reached for his hand, pulling him down the hallway. 

“I think you’ll find I’m always agreeable to this.” 

“I have noticed,” she said. “But the times where we’ll be alone here will be few, so we should take advantage of them.”

Oliver just grinned.

* * * 

Chloe set the plates over the now much bigger dining table, glanced toward the living room to make sure Alice was still entertained by her legos, then headed into the kitchen to pull out the silverware. 

“Smells really good,” she commented, brushing her hand over Oliver’s back as she walked behind him.

He smiled at her. “Thanks. Hopefully it tastes really good.” 

She smiled back. “I’m sure it does.” After glancing toward the living room again, she focused on Oliver. “Now that Alice has finally left your side, we can talk,” she teased.

Oliver couldn’t help but laugh softly. “I can’t help it that I’m awesome.” 

“I know you can’t, part of your charm, I guess.” Chloe stepped closer and leaned back against the counter, then looked up at him. “I talked to Lois today.”

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yep, and apparently she had a chat with Jimmy.” She straightened, arching her eyebrows.

At that, he paused and turned toward her. “And how did that go?” 

“I need you to take a deep breath before I tell you,” she said carefully.

He already didn’t like the sound of _that_. “All right.” 

“She asked him if he was done trying to come after Alice, and he said no, he said he was going to do it the right way next time,” Chloe told him. “Lois asked what that meant and he didn’t answer, but she said she thinks he was just saying that because she knew she’d tell me.”

He tensed immediately, staring at her for a long moment. That was it then. He looked away, forcing himself to take a deep breath. 

“Ollie.” Chloe placed a hand on his arm and shifted a little closer. “Listen, I don’t think he will try anything, not so soon, anyway.”

“He definitely won’t if he’s dead.” 

“You’re not gonna kill him. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t send Bart over to Metropolis to bug his apartment, phone and computers, just in case?” She grinned.

He smiled faintly, nodding. “Yeah, probably a good idea.” 

“There’s also a tracker on all the cameras Bart managed to find, he wouldn’t leave Metropolis without at least one of those things notifying us.”

“I know.” He reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Chloe wrapped her arms around him and took a deep breath. “Besides, you’re here with us now,” she added quietly.

“Legally we could make it official. Jimmy wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.” 

“What do you mean?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I could legally adopt her,” he said softly.

“Oh,” she muttered in surprise. Chloe considered him for a moment. “I don’t think there’s a point in me asking if you’d really be comfortable with that.”

He grinned. “Not really,” he agreed.

“I have no problem with that,” she said, holding his gaze. “Like I said before, you’re the only dad she’ll ever have.”

“Good,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll call my lawyer first thing in the morning and get the ball rolling.” 

Chloe took a deep breath and tightened her arms around him. “Okay,” she agreed quietly. 

He hugged her close, resting his chin atop her head. “I love you.” His voice was soft.

Chloe closed her eyes and smiled. “I love you, too,” she whispered. 

Oliver felt another pair of arms wrap around his legs. “And I love you, too,” he told Alice, leaning down and picking her up.

As soon as Oliver had Alice in his arms, Chloe leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

“I’m hungry,” she said, looking between the two of them.

“Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes,” Oliver assured her with a soft smile.

“Okay,” Alice said with a pout. 

“Come help me set the table,” Chloe offered, hoping to distract her.

“I’m making cookies for dessert,” he told her.

“Cookie!” Alice grinned. 

“Well, at least one of us is staying up all night,” Chloe said, smirking at Ollie. Of course he was well aware what sugar did to Alice, but Chloe wasn’t really too concerned about that.

He chuckled, kissing Alice’s cheek and setting her down once more. “Okay you ladies set the table and I’ll finish getting dinner ready.” 

“Come on,” Chloe said, handing Alice the napkins. “One for each.” 

“Okay!” She rushed toward the table.

He smiled as she rushed to set the table. Then he looked over at Chloe again, his eyes bright. Somehow he’d managed to build a family of his own. He wasn’t sure how he did it, really. But one thing was for sure: he wasn’t ever going to let it go.


End file.
